Hatred is for the Weak
by Chellerbelle
Summary: Gambit and Bella Donna are not-so-happily married, with a daughter, Jackie, who goes to college with Rogue. The Cure is wearing off, and the last thing Rogue wants is for her powers to come back. On the bright side, Gambit may have stolen a few doses...
1. Chapter 1

**"Hatred is for the Weak"**

**or**

**"The Story Where Chellerbelle Goes a Little Crazy Creating OCs"**

**Warning: **Contains sexual situations with varying levels of consent, low level violence, and potentially offensive/controversial topics (most are "one scene only"). Opinions expressed are strictly those of the character expressing said opinion.

**Disclaimer: **Not associated with Marvel, nor do I claim any sort of ownership on their characters, teams, etc.

**Special Thanks:** To my best friend, Joyful, who was good enough to let me bounce ideas off her, provide me with some insight into how college works in the States (I don't even know how it works in Australia! Haha), and stopped me from making a number of mistakes out of ignorance. Thanks Joy, I couldn't have done it without your help. (Any remaining mistakes are my own).

**Final Notes: **This story fits into movieverse canon, up to and including the alterations they made to Gambit's mutation in _X-men Origins: Wolverine_. The one thing it doesn't include is the bonus scene at the end of _X3_, wherein it's suggested that Professor Xavier is still alive. I am also doing a different take on Rogue's powers, one I feel is a natural extension of her abilities.

Updates will be once every two days, rather than daily, as all chapters are longer than normal.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**Granada, Spain, 23 years ago:**

Remy gasped for breath as his body grazed the sandy bottom of the shore. Another wave hit him while he dragged himself up the beach with shaking arms and legs. It was all he could do to pull himself beyond the water before he collapsed. For a time, he just lay there and after what seemed like forever and not long enough, the fifteen-year-old finally picked himself up. His eyes scanned the shore.

"Etienne!" he called.

There was no response. Remy started staggering down the beach, looking desperately for his younger cousin.

"Etienne!" he called again.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Remy had been Etienne's Registrar on his Tilling; the event that would initiate Etienne as a fully fledged thief in the Thieves Guild. The theft had gone without a hitch. They had the prize in their pocket, only to get picked up by slavers on the way home. Breaking out of the cells hadn't been a problem, getting away from the guards had been harder, but they'd been separated when they'd jumped off the fortress wall into the sea.

"Etienne!"

He had to find him.

* * *

><p><strong>Stryker's Island, 21 years ago:<strong>

Remy peered through the bars at the four guards sitting around the table playing poker. There were five other prisoners—all mutants—dressed in stupid, orange uniforms, in five other cages just like his. The cages were small; there was just enough room for Remy to lie down, as long as he didn't mind his head and feet touching the sides. Something was negating his powers too; try as he might, Remy couldn't charge up the cage at all, or anything else within it. And since he was dressed in regulation clothing, he didn't even have any lockpicks to free himself with.

"What's the buy in?" Remy asked the guards.

A couple of the guards snickered. The one closest turned to face the seventeen-year-old and grinned at him.

"More than you can afford, kid," he said.

Slowly Remy held out his hand, a wedding band sitting on his palm. "Is this enough?"

"Hey, where'd you get that?" demanded another guard, whose ring finger was noticeably missing a ring.

"Found it," Remy lied.

"Well, it's mine," the guard said, standing up and starting to walk over to Remy's cage. "Hand it over."

Remy pulled his hand back and held it against the centre of his chest.

"Can I play?" Remy asked plaintively.

Another one of the guards laughed.

"Let the kid play," he said. "He ought to be good for a few rounds' amusement."

"Fine, you get to play," said the irate guard. "Now hand over the ring."

"Chips first," said Remy.

"I could get to like this kid," said the guard who thought Remy amusing. "Give him his chips, Steve. If he still doesn't hand over the ring, we can always beat it out of him later."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 19 years ago:<strong>

It was a cold, windy night and Henri was not all that happy to be out in it. Unfortunately, his dear, pregnant wife had cravings for potato chips, of which they had none at home. So, loaded up with bags of multiple varieties of chips, Henri headed out from the shop to his car in the all but empty parking lot. He frowned when he saw a bedraggled figure standing by his car. His clothes were all but rags and he wore a pair of sunglasses.

"I thought I recognised your car," the man said wearily.

Henri stopped in his tracks. He knew that voice!

"Remy?" Henri asked, staring at him. "Is that you?"

"Oui," Remy replied. "It's me."

"We thought you were dead!" Henri exclaimed, dropping his bags, closing the distance and wrapping his arms tightly around his adopted brother.

"Close," the nineteen-year-old said with a bitter voice. "I was in hell."

"What happened?" Henri began as he pulled away. "No, tell everyone all at once. Better that way, d'accord?"

"Oui."

"Come on," Henri said, unlocking the car, then picking up his bags off the ground. "We'll get you cleaned up.

I know everyone's going to be excited to see you alive and...alive."

* * *

><p>"Remy!"<p>

It was almost like in the movies; the moment Bella Donna laid her eyes on Remy she raced towards him, arms outstretched. A big grin appeared on Remy's, and he wrapped her up in his arms and whirled her around before kissing her passionately.

"You're alive, you're alive," Bella Donna almost wept, holding him close as he set her back down on the ground.

"Well, you know me, chère," Remy replied. "I'm just too stubborn to die."

Bella Donna laughed and pulled away his sunglasses. Her gasp was quite audible, and would have gotten all those in the council room to stare, had they not already been watching. Where bright red eyes should have been there were only plain brown ones, and the whites of his eyes were actually white.

"What happened to you?" she demanded.

Remy gave a half shrug. "Kidnapped. Used for mutant experimentation."

"A likely story," sneered Julien, who was one of the on-lookers.

"Julien," Marius said warningly, and then strode over to Remy. "There had been some...speculation that your abrupt departure was to avoid a certain wedding."

"If you want to check the validity of my story," Remy said, trying to sound respectful when that was the last thing he was feeling at the moment, "the men I was taken by were working for one William Stryker."

"That won't be necessary," Marius replied. "The rumour in question was largely put into circulation by the one who set you up in the first place."

"Julien," Henri said darkly, glaring at him.

"Just how long have you known this, Marius?" asked Jean-Luc, his casual tone doing little to mask his anger.

"The information only came to me recently," Marius answered with dignity. "Given that I didn't believe you when you told me you didn't know where Remy was, I will understand if you don't believe me. The real question now, however, is what to do with the one who put the peace between our Guilds in danger in the first place."

All eyes fell on Julien.

"You didn't really expect me to just stand by and watch while this piece of street trash married my sister?" Julien demanded. "I just wish I'd gotten to him _before _he defiled her."

In the blink of an eye, Bella Donna pushed away from Remy and slammed her fist across Julien's face.

"How dare you!" she practically screamed at him. "How dare you take Remy away from me! I was worried sick about him, you heartless bastard!"

"Heartless? I did it for _you_, Belle," Julien shouted back at her. "To protect _you _from this lying, faithless, worthless _thief_. He doesn't deserve you, and you don't deserve to be trapped into marriage with him."

"Maybe I want to marry him, did that ever occur to you?"

"Frequently, that's what worries me! You can do better!"

"Absolutely," Bella Donna agreed. "I _could_ have done better, but _you _decided to main my future husband! Just look what you've done to his eyes! I don't even want to think what else those cretins you sold him out to have done to him."

Remy looked away, feeling very uncomfortable with both the fighting and the staring. The talk of marriage didn't bother him; leading up to the wedding it did as he wasn't sure if he was ready, but after being in Stryker's clutches for two years, getting married sounded like the greatest idea ever.

"Maimed him?" Julien repeated. "Hey, if anything, I did him a favour. He looks normal now."

"Normal?" Remy spluttered as his head shot back up and he glared at Julien with rage. "A favour? I'll do you a favour!"

"Everyone, please calm down," said Jean-Luc as Henri put a pacifying hand on Remy's shoulder.

"I am calm, old man," Julien practically spat at him.

"Julien, that is quite enough," Marius said tersely and then turned to his fellow Guild Leader. "Jean-Luc, in the interests of keeping the peace between our Guilds, I leave it to you to determine Julien's punishment for his crimes against your son and heir."

Julien protested that he hadn't done anything wrong, but his objections were silenced as all those in the council room looked at Jean-Luc while he contemplated his decision. Had Jean-Luc received the news of what Julien had done prior to Remy's return, the sentence would have been simple: either rescue Remy and bring him back alive, or be executed. However, as Remy had been returned to him, and having lived two years worried and grieving, Jean-Luc was reluctant to inflict the burden of losing a child on Marius. Besides, that seemed more like punishing Marius, rather than the real culprit, Julien.

"Gouge his eyes out," Jean-Luc said finally, with a voice of ice.

"What? No!" Julien shouted. "You can't do that!"

"And do it _after_ the wedding," Jean-Luc added. "I want Remy and Bella Donna marrying to be the last thing he remembers seeing."

* * *

><p><strong>Meridian, Mississippi, same year:<strong>

Carrie walked into the maternity ward and smiled when her eyes laid on her sister, Priscilla, holding her newborn baby girl in her arms. Her brother-in-law, Owen, was sitting next to his wife.

"Congratulations," Carrie said warmly.

"Thanks," Priscilla replied.

"What have you decided to name her?" Carrie asked.

"Marie."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 18 years ago:<strong>

Remy kept his eyes on the man across from him at the poker table. The other two players had folded, and were smart to do so too, given the cards on the table in this game of seven card stud. In front of him were his seven cards, three turned over. The four upside cards were the Jack of Spades, the Five of Hearts, the Five of Spades, and the Jack of Hearts. On the other side of the table, the remaining player had his three downside cards, plus the Jack of Diamonds, the Ten of Diamonds, the Nine of Diamonds and the Eight of Clubs.

The stakes were high; Remy's motorcycle was on the line. For that matter, so was the other guy's plane, and he seemed quietly confident the keys were in his hand.

The other player turned over his three downside cards, one by one; first, the Eight of Diamonds, then the King of Diamonds, and finally the Queen of Spades.

"Straight to King," he said.

Remy forced himself to keep his breathing even as he turned over his own cards; the Ace of Spades, the Two of Spades, and finally the Jack of Clubs.

"Full House," said Remy, "Jacks over Fives."

Remy reached in to take the pot.

"Wait," the other player said. "Give me another chance to get my plane back."

"Désolé, mon ami," Remy replied. "But you have nothing left to bet with, and I don't take IOUs. Oh, and by the way? It's my plane now."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, same year:<strong>

Bella Donna's eyes narrowed as they caught the stain of red lipstick on Remy's shirt. Remy didn't seem to notice and collapsed on the lounge next to her.

"Thought that meeting would never end," he said.

"Yeah, I bet that came as a _real_ disappointment, Casanova," Bella Donna replied sarcastically.

Remy held in an exasperated sigh. This was the first and last time he ever got Bella Donna pregnant. There was no way he was going to handle all these mood swings a second time (he wasn't even sure he was going to survive it once).

"If I never see Billy-Bob again, it'll be too soon," Remy replied with false cheerfulness, standing up again. "I need a drink. Did you want anything, chère?"

"Sure," Bella Donna said sweetly. "The name of the _putain_ whose lipstick you're wearing!"

Remy frowned at Bella Donna in genuine confusion.

"What lipstick?" he asked.

"What lipstick," she repeated mockingly, and pointed at his shirt. "That lipstick, you whoring bastard!"

"Huh," Remy said, glancing down at the shirt and finally noticing the mark. "That lipstick would belong to one Bella Donna Boudreaux. Though really chère, I'm disappointed you would call yourself a putain. It's not nice to call yourself names."

"It's not mine," Bella Donna insisted. "I think I would have remembered getting lipstick on your shirt today."

"It's probably from a few weeks ago," Remy replied with a shrug as he pulled out the bourbon and a glass. "This was the only reasonably clean shirt I had left. Which reminds me; I have to do laundry."

"A likely story. It's not even my shade."

Remy regarded Bella Donna with a raised eyebrow and a slight smirk.

"Oh yeah? How much do you want to bet that if I go through your make up right now, I'll find this exact shade?"

"_And_ you're not wearing your wedding ring."

"I never wear jewellery when I'm working unless it's part of the job. You know that," he replied, trying not to sound as exasperated as he felt.

"It's because I'm fat, isn't it?" Bella Donna asked, now bursting into tears.

"Mon dieu..." Remy said, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes. "Belle—"

"You don't love me any more."

"Of course I still love you. Don't be stupid—"

"Oh! So now I'm stupid!"

"That's not what I—"

"Well, next time _you_ can carry the baby, you ungrateful, selfish little brat!"

_"Please, please, please make the baby a boy," _Remy mentally begged.

* * *

><p>"It's a girl," Tante Mattie announced.<p>

"Ohhh," Bella Donna breathed as she took the tiny child into her arms. "Oh, she's beautiful."

"Just like her mère," Remy said with a proud smile on his face.

"Not quite," said Bella Donna.

Remy was about to ask, when he saw for himself: Jacqueline Armelle Boudreaux-LeBeau had his original red-on-black eyes.

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 17 years ago:<strong>

Remy ran his fingers along Bella Donna's arm as they lay in the bed together.

"Désolé, mon cher," she said. "I'm not in the mood."

As her back was towards him, Remy didn't bother keeping the disappointment off his face.

"Yeah," he muttered under his breath as he turned over. "That's new."

* * *

><p>Remy gave a low whistle as he walked down the main hallway at the Boudreaux Mansion with Emil.<p>

"That's some good dough," he said. "What's the job exactly?"

"That's what the meeting's all about," Emil replied. "We'll get the details then."

"When's the meet?"

"Tonight," Emil said slyly. "House of the Rising Sun."

"Emil—"

"Client's choice."

"Merde," Remy muttered as they passed the training rooms. "If Belle finds out about this, she'll kill me. She's already paranoid about me cheating on her."

"How's she going to find out?" asked Emil. "No one knows 'cept us."

As the pair continued down the hallway, Julien ran a finger down the sharpened blade of his sword. His blindness may have made him all but useless as a field agent, but he'd always been a good swordsman and he was outstanding as an instructor.

Julien was definitely looking forward to telling Bella Donna all about Remy's little visit to the brothel, with some choice editing, of course.

* * *

><p>"I'm not cheating on you!" Remy yelled at Bella Donna the following day. "I was meeting a client!"<p>

"A client who just so happened to want to meet at a brothel? How convenient!" Bella Donna shouted back at him.

"Sure, convenient for _Emil_," Remy snapped. "Look Belle—"

He was cut off by the sound of his daughter crying.

"Now look what you've done!" Bella Donna exclaimed. "You've woken Jacqueline! And I just... _You_ can put her back to sleep."

"It'll be my pleasure," Remy retorted hotly. "At least I know Jackie trusts me."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, later that year:<strong>

Remy glanced over at the nervous passenger in his plane.

"You don't like flying, huh?" Remy teased Logan.

"I'm fine, just concentrate on what you're doing," Logan replied shortly.

"You sure?" Remy said, grinning at him. "You got a bit of sweat on your brow there."

"Very funny. Just keep your eyes on the—"

"On the what?" Remy asked, looking back out the front window. "The clouds? Keep my eyes on the clouds?"

"You're going up and down like a freaking yo-yo here!" Logan snapped at him. "Where'd you get this thing anyway?"

"Oh, this is my baby," Remy replied as he hit the console affectionately. "I won her in a game. Jacks over Fives."

"Great," Logan muttered.

"Relax. We're almost there."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 16 years ago:<strong>

Remy was on his way down to the pool at the Boudreaux Mansion with Jackie sitting on his hip, and holding her floaties in his free hand, with their towels over his shoulder. He was just coming to the end of the bushes hiding the pool from the path, when he heard a familiar laugh. A smile appeared on his face and he was about to turn the corner and call in greeting to his wife, when he heard a male voice. Bella Donna murmured something back and Remy looked around the corner just in time to see Bella Donna kiss one of the Assassins, Franco. He swallowed hard as he watched their kissing become more intimate, and hands going places he hadn't been allowed since before Jackie was born.

Later, when Jackie was down for her afternoon nap, Bella Donna found Remy staring out the open window in the private living room at the Boudreaux Mansion. (They had three living rooms; one at the LeBeau Mansion, and another one in their actual own house). At first she wasn't going to say anything, but then she caught a whiff of cigarette smoke wafting in with the breeze.

"What have I told you about smoking in the house?" she demanded.

She deplored that habit ever since he'd picked it up a few years back.

"Nothing," Remy replied, his voice thick. "It was my decision from day one that I wouldn't smoke around Jackie. She's asleep, and by the time she's back in here, the smoke'll be gone."

"Well, I'd prefer it if you didn't smoke around me," Bella Donna said tersely. "It's disgusting."

"And I'd prefer it if you weren't cheating on me, you hypocritical cow," Remy snapped back at her, flicking the rest of the cigarette out the window. "I know about you and Franco."

Perhaps if Bella Donna had admitted it civilly, rather than lashing out, things might have happened differently. As it was, Bella Donna didn't like the fact that she was feeling guilty about her little affair, especially when she felt completely justified in having one.

"Well, maybe if _you_ weren't cheating on _me_, I wouldn't have to go elsewhere to satisfy my needs," she retorted hotly.

"Merde, Belle!" Remy exclaimed, turning to face her. "I'm not cheating! And I've tried to 'satisfy your needs' plenty of times, and you always turned me down!"

"Because you were cheating!"

"I was not! You seriously have to stop being so paranoid—"

"Paranoid? _Paranoid_? When my husband doesn't wear his wedding ring—"

"I've told you time and time again, I don't wear it when I'm working unless it's for show."

"—visits _brothels_—"

"It was a business meeting!"

"—stays up late at night—"

"I'm a thief! What the hell do you expect?"

"—and comes home smelling of perfume!"

"Okay, that does not happen that often. I can't help it if the people I'm with don't know when too much is too much."

"Oui, the _women_ that you're _with_," Bella Donna retorted, glaring fiercely at Remy. "Julien was right about you all along. You're nothing but a lying, worthless piece of trash."

Remy felt liked he'd just been slapped in the face. He stalked to the front door and left, only giving Bella Donna a glance at his tear strained face and red eyes as he passed. The door slammed shut behind him and Bella Donna was shocked to realise he'd been _crying_.

* * *

><p>At first Bella Donna wasn't worried, figuring that Remy probably just needed to blow off some steam, but when he still hadn't come home after two nights, nor returned to either the Boudreaux or LeBeau Mansions, she put the word out to find him. Only an hour later he'd been located.<p>

"Henri!" Remy greeted in his inebriated state. "Come join the party."

Remy was in the hot tub, presumably naked, with a couple of girls who were at least topless. There were a number of empty bottles along the edge of the tub, and one in Remy's hand.

"No, I don't think so, Remy," Henri replied. "It's time to go home."

"I am home," Remy insisted. "I've got food and drink and shelter and belle femmes to keep me company. What more could a homme want?"

"How about some self respect? You're coming home—"

"Self respect?" Remy repeated. "Let me tell you something about respect: It's over rated. Everyone talks about respect. You gotta respect this. You gotta respect that. You gotta respect your wife. You gotta respect your husband. And does anyone ever respect anything? No. Nobody ever respects a damned thing."

"Belle's been worried about—"

"Belle?" Remy practically spat. "She's the worst. The _worst_. She's cheating on me with Franco. I saw 'em. She's probably been cheating on me all this time and that's why she's been paranoid about me cheating on her 'cause she did it first. 'M not going back to her. Not going back to her _ever_."

Henri was quiet for a moment. It seemed that Bella Donna left something out of her story.

"What about Jackie?" Henri asked finally. "Are you going to go back to her?"

Remy froze.

"Jackie?" he repeated.

"She misses her papa," Henri said gently.

"She does?"

"Of course she does."

"I miss her too," Remy said, and then his face lit up. "I know she's mine. She has my eyes. My _real_ eyes."

"Oui, she does," said Henri.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until after Remy had sobered up, gotten some sleep and spent some play time with Jackie that he and Bella Donna spoke again, at which point Remy had come to a decision.<p>

"They found you at the Rising Sun," she said accusingly.

"Yep," he drawled, his eyes focused squarely on his game of solitaire.

"I knew it! You have been—"

"I'm getting so sick and tired of this argument, Belle," he interrupted. "Until deux days ago, the only person I have slept with the entire time we were married has been you. I don't even care if you don't believe me any more. Quite frankly, if it weren't for the fact that our marriage was arranged and our respective Guilds require us to stay together, I wouldn't be here right now. I would be getting divorce papers written up. But no, we're stuck with each other. So here's the plan, Belle; any time you want to try to work things out, all you have to do is stop cheating. While I'm waiting, I think I'm going to pick up a mistress or trios."

"In addition to the ones you already have?" she retorted snidely, unwilling to admit she may have been the one in the wrong.

"Ball's in your court, chère," Remy replied. "And it ain't even mine."

* * *

><p><strong>Meridian, 14 years ago:<strong>

Marie placed the little plastic chair down on the linoleum kitchen floor next to the stool. Sticking out her tongue, she stepped up onto the chair, and then climbed up onto the stool. Marie looked at her Aunt Carrie, who was busy stirring something in a bowl with her back to her. With a gleeful smile on her face, Marie reached for the cookie jar, foolishly left out and open on the kitchen bench. She reached inside, grabbed a cookie and was climbing back down again when Carrie turned around.

"Why you cheeky little rogue!" Carrie exclaimed.

Marie ran out, giggling, as soon as her feet touched the floor.

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 11 years ago:<strong>

"Jackie?" Remy asked in concern, kneeling by the bed where his daughter was crying. "What's the matter, Sunshine?"

Jackie sniffed.

"Everyone's picking on me," she said in between crying-induced hiccups.

"Picking on you? Why are they picking on you?"

"My eyes," Jackie replied, sniffling. "They said I'm bad and I've got devil eyes and someone even said I was the daughter of Satan. I'm not, am I?"

"Of course not!" Remy insisted. "You're _my_ daughter, not Satan's."

He bit back a comment about Bella Donna's credentials.

"You know," he went on. "I used to have eyes just like yours until some bad men took them away. Sometimes the kids used to pick on me too. They used to call me 'Le Diable Blanc'."

"They did?"

"Uh huh. There's nothing wrong with your eyes, Sunshine. I wish I still had mine. I think I've got some photos of when I was a kid before the bad men took me. Do you want to see?"

Jackie nodded.

* * *

><p><strong>Meridian, 8 years ago:<strong>

"Now, does anyone know the answer?" the teacher asked the class.

At first there was no response and then Marie shyly lifted her hand.

"Yes, Marie?"

"Five?" Marie said hesitantly.

"That's right. Now, if you'll all turn your books to page twenty-seven..."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 5 years ago:<strong>

Remy paced back and forth across the living room floor, much to Bella Donna's exasperation.

"Would you stop that?" she demanded. "She's going to be fine!"

"She should have been back hours ago. What if—"

"You know sometimes the Tillings run a bit late, especially if they decide to celebrate somewhere before returning," Bella Donna pointed out irritably.

"Or something could have gone wrong," Remy said. "What if they got picked up by the cops? Or slavers? Or—"

"Don't insult our daughter," Bella Donna interrupted indignantly. "As if she'd... Wait, slavers?"

Remy might have responded to Bella Donna's puzzled query, had not the door opened at that moment and Jackie came waltzing in.

"Jackie!" Remy exclaimed. "You're alright!"

"Of course I'm alright, Papa," Jackie replied with an amused smile. "Actually, I'm better than alright; I'm awesome."

"Everything went well, I take it?" Bella Donna asked.

"Never saw me coming."

"That's the whole point."

* * *

><p><strong>Meridian, same year:<strong>

The torch under Marie's chin lit up her face in an unnatural way as she and her friends sat in the tent.

"...and still to this day," said Marie in a low voice, "whenever you pass the house, you can still hear the hearts of his victims; thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump."

Thump-thump.

The other girls proceeded to scream and Marie grinned, stifling the urge to giggle at the satisfactory result of her prank.

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 4 years ago:<strong>

Jackie looked at Bella Donna and Remy apprehensively. They were sitting _together_ on the_ same lounge_ at _home. _This particular combination was quite enough to send the warning bells off in Jackie's head. There were only two prearranged occasions where her parents were capable of getting along: Anything Guild-related (a good thing, given that the Guild was literally the only thing keeping their marriage together), and special "Jackie" events, like her birthday. The rest of the time, however, they avoided each other like the plague, unless they wanted a fight and/or to rub their latest partner in the other's face. Remy slept in another room.

"Oh good, you're home," said Remy, and he patted the lounge between himself and Bella Donna. "I—we—need to talk to you."

"Okay," Jackie replied uncertainly, sitting down with them.

"It's like this," Remy said. "I want to move out. I've found a nice little place downtown to live, where I can do my own thing without...without irritating your mère. You'd be welcome to stay with me, if you want, else you can visit any time."

"I highly recommend calling first," Bella Donna said dryly.

"Belle—" Remy began with a frown.

"So that's it?" Jackie asked, "you're just going to leave?"

"No," Remy replied, shaking his head. "It's completely up to you, Sunshine. If you want me to stay, I'll stay."

"Oh thanks," Jackie said sarcastically. "So if I say I want you to stay, I then have to feel bad when you and Maman can't get along."

"Don't be silly, Jacqueline," said Bella Donna. "Your père and I stopped getting along before you were even born."

"For once she's right—" Remy began.

"Don't start—" Bella Donna cut in.

"—we're going to continue fighting and playing our little games of one-upmanship," Remy continued as if Bella Donna hadn't said a thing. "In my case, that's literal one-_up_mansh- uhh, nevermind. The point is, it's going to continue regardless, and we feel that you're old enough that you could handle us living in deux different places. I'm still going to be nearby. You'll still be able to see me everyday. It is far more important to me that you're happy with whatever our living arrangement may be, than what our living arrangement is."

"You don't have to decide now," Bella Donna added.

Jackie pressed her lips together, frowning as she looked away from both of them. How dare they put this on her? He was her father! She didn't want him to leave. She loved both her parents and it just wouldn't be the same if she couldn't have both of them at once. She was so caught up in her personal distress that she didn't notice the magenta glow lighting up the lounge.

"Remy!" Bella Donna scolded.

"It's not..." Remy began even as he deactivated the charge, and then stared at Jackie with a small, delighted smile appearing on his face, "me."

Bella Donna looked at him, and then at Jackie, who had only just registered what had happened. Jackie lifted her hands from the lounge and stared at them.

"Did I..." she started to stay slowly.

"Oui, Sunshine," Remy replied, his smile looking prouder. "I guess that answers that question, no? There's no way I'm moving house with you manifesting powers, 'specially ones you inherited off moi."

"Really?" Jackie asked hopefully, looking up at him.

"Of course," Remy said, running his fingers fondly through her long, light brown hair. "I wouldn't leave in your hour of need."

Jackie smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, Papa."

* * *

><p><strong>Meridian, 3 years ago:<strong>

Marie knelt on her bed and traced her carefully drawn out line on the map above the head of her bed. Beside her was David, laying on the bed with his head on a pillow at the foot.

"...Niagara Falls. Up the Canadian Rockies," Marie said and turned to smile at David, "and then it's only a few hundred miles to Achorage."

"Well, won't it be kind of cold?" David asked.

"Well, that's the point, stupid," Marie replied. "Otherwise it wouldn't be an adventure."

David smiled at her tolerantly. "And when are you going to do this?"

Marie half shrugged as she laid down on the bed beside him. "I don't know."

David sighed as he rolled onto his side to face her.

"After high school," Marie said, "before college."

Marie looked down at her fidgeting fingers, suddenly feeling shy. David didn't say anything, but moved up close to her and leaned on his arm. Marie looked back up at him, and swallowed nervously as they slowly but surely moved into each other. David's lips grazed hers for the briefest of first kisses. Marie's heart was pounding as their lips met again only a moment later. She felt something rush into her, a sudden injection of energy, and with it curious images of watching herself trace out the line on her map, playing football, David's parents, school...

Marie pulled back from the kiss, her eyes wide with alarm. She saw David fall back on the bed as strange lines faded from his face and his eyes rolled into the back of his head as he gasped for breath.

Marie screamed.

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 2 years ago:<strong>

Remy stood out on the driveway of his new abode, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigarette. He knew he could just smoke inside, it being his home and all, but Remy was in a long standing habit of not smoking around Jackie, at least not indoors, and she was busy putting her things together in her second bedroom. Both he and Bella Donna had been relieved when Jackie consented to Remy moving out. It was out of the blue too, as the subject hadn't even been brought up again.

Bella Donna pulled up on the street in front and Remy watched as she got out of the car, taking a cardboard box with her. She gave him a condescending look as she marched over to him.

"That's a disgusting habit," she informed him for only the millionth time.

Remy gave a slight shrug. "So are you."

Bella Donna coughed as Remy deliberately breathed smoke in her face.

"What the hell you doing here anyway?" he asked, turning his head away from her. "This is supposed to be a Bella Donna free zone."

"You left some of your crap behind," she replied, hefting the box.

"Unlikely."

Bella Donna didn't say a word, she didn't have to. She merely lifted the box and flung its contents—a large quantity of decks of cards—all over Remy. One might not have hurt, but many hitting him in the same place caused Remy to cry out in objection.

"If I never see another playing card again," Bella Donna said as she turned her back and swaggered back to the car, "it'll be too soon!"

* * *

><p><strong>Salem <strong>**Center****, New York, same year:**

Marie took a deep breath and touched Jean's outstretched hand with her bare skin. The contact was brief and Marie pulled her hand away quickly. Jean shook herself free of the dizzy spell that followed.

"Sorry," Marie said.

"It's fine," Jean assured her, and then gestured around the danger room to the features of her telekinesis training program. "It's what we're here for. Now, why don't you try moving some things?"

Marie nodded and concentrated. She managed to shift the simulated car, the desk, the chair and a thick book, amongst other things, before Jean's powers wore off. However, the pencil and the coin were beyond her.

"That's normal," said Jean. "There's a lot of variation in what size a telekinetic can handle. Most telekinetics—there are exceptions—can move larger objects a lot easier than smaller objects."

"But I borrowed _your_ telekinesis," Marie pointed out.

"And if you had also absorbed my years of experience and practice you would have also been able to move the pencil and the coin," Jean replied patiently. "I've never really had any problems moving large things—not that it doesn't still take effort. However, smaller things require a lot more finesse. Also, sometimes telekinetics can find it easier to move things a long distance, than to move things a short distance. Next time you borrow my powers, I want you to try and move a large object by a quarter of an inch."

"Alright."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 1 year ago:<strong>

Jackie looked up from the TV as her father swore and hung up the phone. He then went to a nearby drawer and started pulling things out.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"Worthington's ready to go public," Remy replied as he gathered his things for the trip. "I have to get to San Francisco."

"Did you want me to come with?" asked Jackie. "Or am I staying here?"

"I might be there awhile," Remy said after a moment's thought. "You'd better stay."

"Aww nuts," she said, paused and then asked slyly: "So, were you planning on telling Maman?"

"None of her business."

"So, can I stay home alone then?"

Remy paused at the hallway leading to the bedrooms. Jackie grinned wickedly at him.

"Sure," he said finally. "But if you throw any wild parties, be sure to clean up afterwards."

* * *

><p><strong>Salem <strong>**Center****, same year:**

"This wasn't what I wanted," said Bobby, feeling a little guilty as he looked at Marie, home from her abrupt trip to San Francisco.

"I know," Marie replied gently. "It's what I wanted."

She reached out and took his hand with her bare one.

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, 5 months ago:<strong>

Remy reluctantly sat down next to Bella Donna at the table in the restaurant.

"What's this about, Sunshine?" he asked.

Jackie put down the college brochure on the table in front of them. "This is where I'm going in September."

"You're joking, right?" said Bella Donna, not even bothering to look.

"Not at all," Jackie replied.

"You don't need a degree to engage in the family business."

"Sure, I don't need one, but some of us still have them," Jackie pointed out. "And I bet they sure come in useful."

"Well," said Remy as he flicked through the brochure, "if it's what you want."

"I wasn't asking for permission," said Jackie. "I was telling you."

"Heh, that's m'girl," Remy replied with a grin.

"Don't encourage her," Bella Donna said, and glared at Remy before turning back to her daughter. "Perhaps you've forgotten, but you're supposed to be running the Guild one day."

"How could I forget?" Jackie asked. "I don't see what's wrong with me doing my own thing for a few years. It's not like I have to take over as soon as I come of age, geez."

"I don't see anything wrong with it either," Remy said, putting the brochure back down on the table. "I wish I had a chance to gallivant before having to settle down."

"So you decided to make a chance after we were married instead," Bella Donna said acidly.

"Let's not fight, please," Jackie cut in before Remy could retort. "If it will make you feel better, Maman, I will be happy to do any jobs and Guild leadership training during the summer. But I really want to do this, and I don't want to be fighting with you deux about it."

"Got no argument from me," Remy said. "So, you planning on staying at home or in the dorms?"

"Dorms," Jackie replied. "I could do with a change of scenery."

* * *

><p><strong>Salem <strong>**Center****, 4 months ago:**

"New Orleans?" Bobby practically exploded. "You're joking, right?"

"Umm, no," Marie replied slowly. "I thought I was quite clear."

"What's wrong with going to college here?" Bobby demanded. "Why do you have to go all the way to the other side of the world?"

"Louisiana isn't even on the other side of the country, stupid—"

"May as well be."

"I don't see what's wrong with me wanting to go to school down south," Marie said firmly. "Okay, it's not Mississippi, but I'm not really sure I want to go back to Mississippi anyway. And I _like_ New Orleans."

"What wrong is that you won't be here any more," Bobby replied, almost pathetically. "And I'll miss you."

Marie shook her head.

"I don't belong here any more," she said. "This is a school for mutants, and I'm not a mutant any more."

"That's crap and you know it," Bobby said. "The Cure might have turned your powers off, but you're still a mutant. And the Cure is wearing off, you know."

"Not everyone," Marie replied firmly. "Only a small percentage of mutants who took the Cure have had their powers come back. It is a drug, after all, and no drug anywhere is effective on 100% of the population."

"One of which was Magneto."

"I'm still going, Bobby."

Bobby closed his eyes and sighed. "I guess this means we're over then."

Marie snorted derisively. "We've been on a downhill slide for awhile now, Bobby. This'll be good for both of us."

"I'm going to miss you."

"I'm going to miss you too."

* * *

><p><strong>New Orleans, Present Day:<strong>

Marie walked down the hall, dragging her wheeled bag along behind her and peering at the numbers on the doors.

"Aha," she said, and then glanced down at the piece of paper in her hand to double check the number.

Satisfied, Rogue shoved the paper into her pocket and opened up the door. Holding the door with one hand, she walked inside dragging her bag in after. There was a sink to her left and another door—presumably to the bathroom—to the right. She moved just past the little entryway, into the bedroom. There were two single beds, one on each side of the room. There were also two wardrobes and two desks with small bookcases on top.

Her new room mate was already there, putting her things away. Her long brown hair was tied in a braid down her back and she wore a pair of short shorts and a rich magenta shirt. Marie coughed lightly as she stopped in the middle of the room and the other girl turned around, revealing a pair of brown eyes to match her hair. Marie smiled and held out her hand.

"Hi, I'm Marie," she said. "We must be room mates."

"Must be," the other girl replied taking her hand. "I'm Jackie. Nice to meetcha. Question: How do you feel about mutants?"

Marie blinked, taken slightly aback. She hoped this wasn't going to be the beginning of a disaster.

"Umm, well," she said, "my last boyfriend was a mutant."

"Good enough," Jackie replied, and abruptly her eyes changed from brown, to red with black sclera, eliciting a gasp of surprise from Marie. "I'd hate to have to hold the illusion around you all the time."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

There was a nice, warm body in the bed next to him and Remy rolled over to see one of his mistresses, Meg, sleeping soundly with her back to him. Remy smiled sleepily and slid over to spoon her while falling back into a light sleep.

"Morning," Meg said softly after a time.

"Morning," Remy replied.

He planted a gentle kiss on the back of her neck, and then hoisted himself up on one elbow. She rolled around slightly to look up at him, and he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face.

This was definitely the way to wake up in the morning.

"What's the time?" Meg asked.

Remy leaned back to check the clock on his bedside table. "Ten past eight."

Meg swore under her breath and threw the covers back.

"I have to go," she said. "I'm going to be late for work."

Remy sat up and watched appreciatively as Meg rushed into the ensuite for her shower.

"Want me to join you?" he called after her.

"No, this is supposed to be a _quick_ shower," she replied and shut the door.

Remy chuckled and got out of bed himself, wrapped his robe around him and wandered into the kitchen to make breakfast. When Meg joined him after coming out of the shower and dressing, she smiled to find a cup of coffee waiting for her.

"Thanks, honey," she said and kissed him gently.

"You're welcome, chère," he replied. "Have a good day at work."

"Yeah, right."

* * *

><p>"Meh," Marie grumbled as she half sat, half collapsed onto her desk chair. "Who gives assignments out on the first day?"<p>

"One of your professors, I'm guessing?" Jackie asked, grinning at her from her bed where she had a text book lying open in front of her.

"I hope this isn't going to be an indication of what the rest of college is going to be like."

"Assume that it is, then you'll either be prepared or pleasantly surprised."

Marie laughed and Jackie grinned at her. Jackie had found herself in a situation she wasn't entirely certain how to deal with. Normally when she 'made friends' outside the Guild, it was for the purpose of using/exploiting/killing them later. Really the only thing she wanted out of Marie was a room mate she could live with and Jackie was finding herself at a loss at how to accomplish this. She was so used to playing a role with outsiders, rather than just being herself.

"So," said Jackie. "Wanna go do something tonight?"

"Maybe not tonight," Marie replied. "Friday, perhaps."

"Yeah, I suppose, class in the morning, huh?"

"Yeah."

Jackie considered as Marie put her things away in an attempt to keep the dorm tidy for as long as possible before the inevitable mess started growing.

"Well, I don't know about you," Jackie said, slamming her text book shut. "But I require food."

Marie chuckled.

"I'm going to go hit the caf and crash a table full of boys," Jackie went on with a wicked grin. "Wanna join me?"

"Sure, why not?" Marie replied, smiling back at her.

"Awesome, and afterwards we can compare notes on which boys we want, so we don't overlap." Jackie paused and considered: "Unless you're into that kind of thing."

"Uhh, no."

"Neither am I," Jackie said as she pulled her shoes on. "Well, I don't think I am. Never tried, so I guess I don't know."

"There are quite a few things I haven't tried, and don't plan to," Marie replied as she picked herself up off her chair. "Some may call it closed-minded, but I really don't see the appeal of, say, bungee jumping."

Jackie laughed.

"Sky diving on the other hand," Marie went on. "That I'd like to do."

"Ooh I've done that," Jackie replied. "We should go together some time. It'll be fun."

"Sure," Marie said agreeably as Jackie stood up.

"Alright," said Jackie, donning a pair of dark sunglasses. "Let's go meet some boys...erm, I mean get food."

Marie chuckled as she followed Jackie out the door.

Marie quickly discovered that Jackie was quite charismatic and very good at meeting people and getting them together. It came as no surprise to Marie that Jackie had organised the first party of the year in their dorm. While Marie was feeling a little overwhelmed by being surrounded by so many people she didn't know, Jackie was about learning everyone's names, majors and as much of their back stories as she could find out in the short conversations. By the time the party was over, Jackie had succeeded in making herself the girl to invite to every party.

As Jackie was a native, she took it upon herself to show Marie around New Orleans as well. Marie wasn't sure if she should be worried Jackie seemed to know where all the good clubs were. Either way, Marie found Jackie to be good company, and in turn Jackie found herself becoming rather fond of Marie's company as well. She had a wicked sense of humour that went well with her own, and found Marie's "ethics" and "integrity" rather fascinating. Previously, Jackie just figured "integrity" was another word for "stupid".

* * *

><p>Remy walked into the room outside his and Bella Donna's offices, where the three secretaries had their desks. Cassie stood up as soon as Remy came in.<p>

"Here's the report you wanted," she said, handing over a manilla folder.

"Wanted? Remy queried. "Or needed?"

Cassie pulled the face of someone who was tired of hearing the same joke.

"We've gotten in five more commissions," Cassie went on, ignoring Remy's grin. "Two are hits which I've already passed onto Bella Donna. The other three are thefts; two industrial, and one commercial."

"Okay, see that Claude and—"

"I already gave them to Claude and Bernard."

"Huh," Remy said, scratching his chin with the edge of the corner of the manilla folder. "And I can read this any time?"

"Sooner would be better than later," Cassie replied dryly.

"But it's nothing I have to act on?"

"Not really. It's all pretty standard."

"Well, I feel useless," Remy said thoughtfully, putting the report back down on the desk. "I'm going to go fishing or play golf or something."

"You don't fish or play golf."

"Maybe I'll start. Isn't that what all bosses do when they're rendered superfluous by their staff?"

Remy grinned mischievously at Cassie. She just shook her head as Remy sauntered out the door.

* * *

><p>Jackie walked into the dorm after her class to find Marie lying on her bed, cringing a little, with her phone to her ear.<p>

"How's Warren taking it?" she asked whomever she was talking to. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I was just thinking it wouldn't be easy for him, seeing his father dragged through the courts like that."

Jackie would have liked to have said she didn't want to listen in... Oh wait, no she wouldn't. It wasn't that Jackie was a gossiper—far from it—but it had been drilled into her young to always pay attention to everything that went on around her, including (or especially) personal conversations that were none of her business. Unlike some aspiring eavesdroppers, however, Jackie was at least capable of convincingly appearing like she wasn't listening.

"Are they anywhere close to a settlement?" Marie asked while Jackie unceremoniously dumped her bag on the ground and started rifling through it. "Oh well, that's typical. What is the percentage at the moment? Last I heard it was like, five percent or something equally pathetic."

One by one, Jackie pulled out her things. First, her laptop was put on the desk.

"Nine? Seriously?" Marie said in surprise. "No, I'm not worried. Why should I be worried?"

Jackie's notebook and textbooks hit the desk top with their usual thump.

"Hey, just because it's wearing off some people, doesn't mean it's going to wear off everyone," Marie said stubbornly. "It's been over a year since it came out."

Because her back was to Marie, Jackie allowed herself a slight frown. This was certainly one of the more curious conversations she'd heard her room mate have.

"Yes, Kitty," Marie said with an exasperated sigh. "I am aware that I always have a home at Xaviers. I happen to be enjoying living in New Orleans."

Jackie hesitated briefly. On the one hand, she was planning on going out tonight, and that meant having a quick shower first. On the other hand, she really wanted to hear the rest of this conversation. The hesitation didn't last long; she opened her wardrobe and started pretending she was deciding on what clothes to wear (even though she'd already decided hours ago).

"Oh sugar, I'm not sure if I'm going to make it back for Christmas this year," Marie said. "And no, I don't want you guys to pay for me to come up. I'm going to come up over the summer."

Jackie did a couple of shirt comparisons, pretending to hem and haw.

"Honestly, you're worse than my Mama," Marie insisted, was quiet while she listened and then said: "No, I'm not having any weird dreams, I'm not hearing any voices, and I'm certainly not giving out any knockout kisses."

Jackie pulled out the shirt she'd chosen, along with the pants and tossed them on the bed. Marie laughed, evidentially at something Kitty had said.

"Well, there is this one guy that's kind of cute," she said. "Have I told you about Brett yet?"

Jackie laughed inwardly. Brett wasn't her personal definition of cute, but she could see why some people might think he was good looking. He was a huge nerd though: Star Trek buff, comic books, Dungeons and Dragons.

Since the conversation had turned to less interesting topics, Jackie finished pulling out her clothes, stripped off and made her way into the shower. When she came back out again, Marie and this Kitty person were still discussing boys, although they'd switched from Brett to two other guys named Bobby and Piotr. Jackie listened to idle chatter while she dressed, and had moved on to doing her make up when Marie's conversation began coming to a close.

"Anyway I should go. I've got night class tonight," said Marie, was quiet for a moment before giving an exasperated sigh and replying: "Would you guys stop worrying? If anyone should be worried about my powers coming back, it should be me, and I'm not!"

Jackie's head jolted up and she looked at Marie. With that outburst in the fairly short distance between them, there was no point in pretending she hadn't heard her.

"And quite frankly, I have enough on my plate worrying about exams that _will_ happen, than putting someone into a coma, which only _might_ happen on the _off chance_ that my powers come back," Marie went on angrily. "Thank you! Geez, what does it take to get people to drop it already?"

Jackie watched curiously as Marie seemed to calm down and finally ended the conversation with a request for Kitty to give her love to everyone, up to and including giving Logan a kiss on the cheek for her (this was apparently some kind of joke) and finally hung up. It was only then that Marie noticed Jackie looking at her.

"Ahh, I guess you heard all that, huh?" Marie said awkwardly.

"It's a little hard to miss you yelling at someone for worrying about your powers coming back," Jackie replied, her interest quite evident in her voice.

"Yeah... Umm, so have I ever told you I'm a mutant?" Marie 'asked', knowing full well she hadn't.

"No," Jackie said, lacing her fingers together in front of her chin where she sat on the edge of her bed. "Do tell."

"I took the Cure, but, well, when my powers were active, I could absorb life force," Marie replied, feeling a little awkward.

"What does that mean?" Jackie asked.

"Well, when I make—made—skin to skin contact with someone, I would absorb their life force. Their energy. I would get this permanent download of their memories and personality, and if they were a mutant, I could borrow their powers for awhile."

"Cool," Jackie said. "So...why'd you take the Cure?"

"Because I couldn't control it," Marie said softly. "I couldn't make skin to skin contact with anyone at all without hurting them. I've put people into comas. I even almost killed one of my closest friends."

"Wow."

"Well, okay," Marie corrected herself, "he kind of knew what he was doing when he touched me. I was dying at the time, and he had a healing factor, so he let me borrow it, except that I couldn't break contact until after I'd recovered consciousness. But that's not the point; he still almost died."

"Was that the boyfriend?" Jackie asked.

"Ha, I wish," Marie replied with a slight smile. "Sadly, he had eyes for someone else. Actually we'd only known each other a couple of days at the time."

Jackie blinked in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah, he pretends to be all gruff and mean, and okay he's not exactly the kind of guy you'd want mad at you, but he's really very sweet," Marie said fondly.

"Huh. I didn't think people really did that."

"Did what?"

"Put their lives on the line for people they don't know," Jackie said. "Someone you love, maybe a papa or a maman protecting their children, but a complete stranger?"

Jackie shook her head, unable to comprehend the thought. As far as she was concerned, not even husbands and wives cared enough about each other to put their lives on the line for the other. Well, maybe her Uncle Henri and Auntie Mercy might, but they were the exception. Husbands and wives wanting to off their partner were practically the bread and butter of the Assassins Guild, and certainly after seeing the failure that was her own parents' marriage, Jackie had no interest whatsoever in acquiring a husband for herself.

"I'm sorry," Marie said, giving Jackie an odd look, "but aren't you the one who wants to join the FBI?"

Jackie froze. She slipped. She couldn't believe she slipped. She was just so comfortable around Marie, and caught up in trying to understand something she honestly didn't, she'd forgotten all about her diabolical evil scheme to infiltrate the FBI, and that that's where Marie knew she wanted to go with her Computer Science and Criminal Justice majors.

"I mean, I could be wrong about the FBI does," Marie went on, "but I'm of the opinion that anyone who's in any kind of police force is essentially putting their lives on the line for the good of the public. You know, complete strangers."

"Mais," Jackie replied, trying to come up with a good reply quickly, "I... You have a good point. I didn't think of it that way. I guess my interest is more in the investigation than the apprehension, if you can appreciate the distinction."

"I guess," Marie replied, looking mildly amused. "But I hear that there's fierce competition for positions in the FBI, and if I were you, I'd keep my misgivings about putting my life on the line for strangers to myself. You may be surprised at just how often it happens."

"Right," Jackie said, paused and then changed the subject: "So, you have a mutant name?"

Marie chuckled. "Rogue."

"I like it," said Jackie. "In fact I kind of wish I thought of it for myself."

Marie laughed again.

"As it is, I stole my name from mon père," Jackie said. "Le Diable Blanc, unless I'm in France, in which case it then becomes The White Devil. It just sounds nicer in a 'foreign' language."

"You stole it from your dad?" Marie asked.

"Oui, he wasn't using it," Jackie replied with a grin. "He used to have eyes just like mine when he was a kid, but then he got abducted and experimented on."

"Oh! That's terrible," Marie said, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," Jackie said, considered and then continued: "And since we're being so open right now, I'm not just an illusionist. Illusion is just my secondary mutation. My primary mutation is the ability to make things go boom."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yup," Jackie said and picked up a scrap of paper. "We charge the paper, we blow up the paper."

Marie marvelled with a smile on her face as Jackie made the paper glow with magenta light and then flicked it into the air, where it exploded with a light 'pop'.

"Cool," said Marie. "I actually used to go to a school for mutants. My boyfriend could freeze stuff, up to and including turning himself into ice."

"Oooh kinky."

"You're a sick girl."

"I get it off my parents," Jackie replied with a grin.

* * *

><p>Remy was waiting at a table in the café, drinking a cup of coffee. A shadow fell over the table, and he smiled as he looked up at Meg.<p>

"Sorry I'm late," she replied, sitting down on the second chair and placing her bag on the ground by her leg. "You know traffic."

"Oui," he replied. "So, how has your day been?"

"Fine, I..." Meg closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We need to talk."

"Well, that doesn't sound ominous," Remy said with a slight smirk. "You leaving me, chère?"

He batted his eyes at her and she pulled a face at him.

"Stop that," Meg scolded him. "Look, it's like this. I told you about Travis, right?"

"Oui. Ahh..." Remy said, nodding thoughtfully, "he's finally come around, hein?"

"Right. And we've decided to have an exclusive relationship."

There was silence while Remy drank some of his coffee.

"Well," he said. "I guess that's that then. I do wish you the best of luck, of course."

"Thank you," Meg said, looking somewhat relieved. "I hate breaking up with people."

Remy chuckled.

"Aww chère," he said. "We were just deux adults looking for a good time, and we had a lot of them together."

"Yes, we did."

"And I won't deny that I'll miss you," he went on, taking her hand and stroking it gently, "but know that I'm happy for you. It's not like you and I were going anywhere."

Meg reached out and stroked his cheek.

"Belle is a fool if she can't see what a wonderful man you are, Remy," she said firmly. "I hope everything works out."

* * *

><p>Marie hadn't been completely truthful when she told Kitty she didn't have any voices any more. Occasionally—very occasionally—she'd hear one of her voices say something, but she considered it to be no more than residue of her former powers. After all, she'd been hearing them before it even got out that the Cure was wearing off some people, and that was as far as it had gone. Marie was reasonably confident that her powers were not going to come back.<p>

Okay, sure, there was some small part of her that was nervous about her powers coming back, but just a tiny one. A teeny, tiny little bit of doubt.

"All right boys," Jackie said at the table in one of the club rooms at the college. "Let's do this bitch."

She and Marie were sitting with a few of the guys who liked to play Dungeons and Dragons. Jackie wasn't sure if Marie was more interested in the game, or in Brett who was the Dungeon Master. For her part, Jackie felt it was in her best interest to make as many connections as possible, and if that meant playing nerdy games, so be it. She never knew when or how it might pay off later.

"Well first," said Brett as he handed out character sheets, "we need to make up our characters. This is going to be a first level campaign, so we're going to need to make up a few, because one will probably die."

"Heh, cool," said Jackie.

Marie laughed at her, and Brett's hand brushed against hers as he handed over a couple of character sheets. Marie noticed the contact and the way Brett shook himself before handing out more sheets. A sick feeling welled up in her stomach, and she fought it off inwardly. It was just her imagination. Nothing happened. _Nothing happened_.

"Wow," Jackie said, looking over the character sheet. "This is more complicated than I thought it was going to be."

* * *

><p>Remy was slouched on the couch in front of the TV. The TV was on, but Remy wasn't really watching, just staring at the screen. He had a cigarette in one hand, a can of beer in the other, and he smelled like he hadn't bothered to shower, let alone get dressed, for the past three days.<p>

He lifted the can to his lips, only to catch the few drops that were left in it. He crushed the can in his hand, charged it up and tossed it behind him, where it exploded. He leaned forward and grabbed the next beer off the coffee table, not taking his eyes off the TV once, even to open it.

* * *

><p>Jackie looked up as Marie entered their dorm and grinned when she saw the shopping bag in her hand.<p>

"Aww," said Jackie. "You went shopping without me? I'm hurt."

"Don't be," Marie replied with the voice of someone who's trying to sound happier than she is. "It wasn't that exciting."

"Lies," Jackie replied.

Jackie thought shopping was always exciting. Usually she just gave herself the five finger discount, so actually spending money was a novelty.

Marie cracked a smile at Jackie's comment, and then dumped the bag on the bed before opening up her wardrobe and the drawers therein. Jackie got up while Marie was doing this and peered into the bag.

"Got a lot of gloves," she observed. "It hasn't been that cold."

"Yeah," Marie said dully. "It's not the cold."

Jackie frowned while Marie reached into the bag to pull out the gloves and a couple of scarves.

"Your powers are coming back," Jackie said.

"Yep," Marie replied shortly. "And I don't really want to talk about it right now."

Jackie pressed her lips together and nodded.

"Oh," Marie said after a moment's pause and pulling something else out of the bag. "I saw this and thought you might like it."

Jackie blinked in surprise as Marie handed her a studded, black leather bracelet.

"I... You got me a present?" Jackie asked, confused.

"Yep," Marie said, going back to the drawer with the last of her purchases.

There was silence for a moment as Jackie frowned at the bracelet. "Why?"

Marie gave Jackie one of her amused looks. "Because I wanted to, sugar."

There was another silence and then: "I didn't get you anything."

"I wasn't expecting anything," Marie replied as she closed the wardrobe up again. "What? No one ever gave you a present because they just wanted to give you a present before?"

"No," Jackie replied. "Except Maman and Papa, and they're my parents, so they don't count. Everyone else? There's always a catch."

"You're going to do great in the FBI," Marie said. "I've never met anyone who was suspicious of a present before. Well...unless it was coming from Bobby, but that's just smart; he pulls pranks."

Jackie smiled faintly and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking at the bracelet and tracing it with her fingers. Marie didn't exactly have a lot of spending money. She worked a few hours a week in the campus book store, although she was hoping to get something relevant to her studies in engineering. Buying all those gloves—and there was a significant number of them—would have bitten a significant hole out of her budget for the week and she _still spent money on her_.

"Marie?" said Jackie, lifting her head.

"Yeah?"

Jackie paused, licked her lips and then said: "Thank you."

Marie grinned at her.

"You're quite welcome, sugar."

* * *

><p>Remy was planning on ignoring the phone, until he saw Jackie's name appear on the screen.<p>

"Hey Sunshine," he greeted.

"Hi Papa," Jackie replied. "How you doing?"

"I'm okay. How's college?"

"It's fine. Look umm, I was wondering... I have a friend who might be in the market for the Cure and I was wondering if—"

"Bring 'em around."

"Well, that's kind of the thing," Jackie said, feeling awkward. "I was hoping you could give the dose to me, and then I could—"

"Jackie, I love you," Remy said. "But not even for you will I let a drop of this stuff leave my place without injecting it into someone's arm first."

Jackie sighed. "I had a feeling you might say that. Okay, well, I'll check with her and if she's interested, we'll come around on Friday night, unless, you've got plans?"

"Nope," Remy replied.

"Great, I'll see you there then."

* * *

><p>"Okay," said Marie, sitting down at the table outside with her lunch. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"<p>

Jackie took a deep breath. She hadn't wanted to reveal this much of her life to Marie; it would make her a potential security risk and Jackie would hate to have to kill her later. She might even regret it. What a strange idea.

"Before I start," Jackie said. "This can't... you can't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you. It could get us both into a lot of trouble."

"It's not anything illegal, is it?" Marie asked teasingly.

"Uhh...actually..."

"It is?" Marie exclaimed. "Oh...okay... I was just kidding around. I...umm..."

Marie trailed off, not knowing what to say. Jackie closed her eyes.

"How about this?" Jackie said slowly. "I tell you in a nutshell what it's about, and then you can say yay or nay, and if it's nay, we can pretend we never had this discussion."

Marie nodded slowly. "Okay."

"I know someone who sells the Cure on the blackmarket," Jackie said.

Marie froze, her eyes wide. Jackie just looked back at her seriously.

"How... What..." Marie stammered, swallowed and started again: "How much are they asking?"

"I have a close relationship with the seller," said Jackie. "We should be able to negotiate a price you can afford."

Marie nodded slowly. "Can I have some time to think about it?"

"Sure," Jackie replied. "Just let me know by Friday. I told him we'd see him Friday night if you were interested."

* * *

><p>Marie was embroiled in the worst kind of mental war over the next couple of days. On the one hand, she didn't want to miss out on touching people. On the other hand, would taking the Cure again just be delaying the inevitable? She didn't want to hurt people, but she wasn't sure she wanted to get involved with anything illegal (and she also preferred not to think about how Jackie knew this guy, but suspected she was going to find out if she went ahead).<p>

Come Friday night, however, Marie had made up her mind. Jackie and Marie got into Jackie's car and Jackie gave her the rest of the details on the way.

"Papa's been keeping an eye on scientific communities and anti-mutant organisations ever since he escaped after he was kidnapped," Jackie told her. "He probably found out about development starting on the Cure during the same week it started. When the Cure was released to the public, he stole a whole batch of the stuff."

"And now he sells it on the blackmarket," Marie said.

"Yeah, but he's very picky about his customers," Jackie said. "He only sells it to actual mutants, and he administers it himself. He won't sell any for study or for later use. He doesn't want it to end up in the wrong hands."

Marie nodded slowly. She could understand that.

Sometime later, Jackie pulled into the driveway of Remy's home. It was a two-storey home with a double garage. They got out of the car and Marie followed Jackie to the door. Jackie knocked and then frowned when there was no reply. She tried a second time, but there was still no response.

"That's odd," said Jackie. "I told him we were coming."

She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door.

"Umm," Jackie hesitated, "you'd better stay here. Sometimes Papa has company over. And by company, I mean of the female variety."

"I see."

Jackie opened the door and Marie waited on the doorstep while Jackie stepped inside. At first there was nothing, and then:

"Argh! Papa! Put some pants on!"

Marie stifled a giggle.

"I don't care how many femmes tell you otherwise, _no one_ wants to see that."

Marie didn't hear anything for a time, and then:

"It's Friday... No, it's Friday. I told you we were coming tonight... Just how much you've been drinking anyway?"

Marie grimaced. Yeah, this was encouraging. Finally the door opened and an irritated-looking Jackie let her in.

"I apologise," Jackie said. "He's not normally in a drunken stupor."

"It's okay," Marie replied politely, all the while thinking she wasn't entirely comfortable with a drunk giving her a needle.

Jackie shut the door and turned on the light. The living room was a mess. The space behind the lounge was covered in black, the room was thick with cigarette smoke, the coffee table in front of the lounge had a half finished six pack of beer and two packs of cigarettes, one hanging open.

The shirtless man sitting on the arm of the lounge, however, was nothing like the man Marie had expected to see. He was actually quite muscular, and there was no sign of even a beer gut or "man boobs". He had long hair, and the beard tended to suggest he hadn't shaved in a few days.

"Papa, this is Marie," said Jackie. "Marie...this is mon père."

"Bonjour, chérie," Remy said, rubbing his head and attempting to focus.

"Marie's the one I told you about," said Jackie. "Who was interested in the Cure?"

"Oh right," Remy replied, his eyes on Marie's chest rather than Jackie's face.

"I was hoping that you might let her have it for, I don't know, five bucks or something," said Jackie. "You know, poor college student and all that."

"Five bucks? Worth way more than that," Remy said.

"Yeah I know," Jackie said. "But she can't—"

"I could pay it off—" Marie began.

"Don't do IOUs either," Remy said.

"No, Marie, trust me, he can afford it," Jackie said determinedly to her room mate before glaring at her father, who was now standing up and walking unsteadily over to Marie. "Papa, you've already made—"

"Maybe," Remy said, cutting Jackie off and standing much closer to Marie than she was comfortable with, powers or no. "Maybe there's something else you can pay me with."

Marie felt like she was going to gag, the stench of alcohol and cigarettes was so strong on him. Remy leaned in closer, his lips almost touching her ear.

"Have sex with me," he said, "and the Cure's yours."

"Papa!" Jackie exclaimed in horror.

"Excuse me? Do I look like a whore to you?" Marie demanded, anger flashing in her eyes as she stepped away from him.

"I can't believe you!" said Jackie. "And how in the world is sex more profitable than five bucks anyway?"

"My money," Remy insisted, his words slurred. "I'll spend it on whatever I want. Five bucks would be a pretty cheap whore."

"That's it," said Marie. "I'm out of here. I'll meet you at the car, Jackie."

"Aww," Remy said as Marie stalked out, slamming the front door behind her. "She left."

"You jerk!" Jackie yelled at him. "I didn't come here so I could pimp out my friend to you! I can't believe you just did that! Why couldn't you have just given it to her for five bucks like I asked? You've already made a fortune on the stuff."

Remy didn't answer, just slumped back down on the lounge again. Jackie shook her head.

"I have never, _ever_ been so embarrassed in my entire life," Jackie informed him shortly. "That girl is the most caring person I have ever met. She even feels guilty for _almost_ killing someone. I just wanted to do something nice for her and you...you... Oooh!"

Jackie turned on her heel and stormed out as well. Marie was leaning against the car looking rather upset with her lips pressed tightly together.

"Marie, I'm so sorry," Jackie said, hitting the button on the keyless entry. "I had no idea he would do that, I swear, or I never would have—"

"It's not your fault your dad's a jackass," Marie replied, not meeting her eyes. "Thanks for trying."

"He's not usually," Jackie said quietly under her breath as Marie opened the door and got inside the car.

It was quiet on the trip back home.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was his phone that woke Remy up the next morning. The obscenely loud noise jolted him awake, and although the Victorian-themed room seemed very familiar, he had no idea where he was. The other thing he discovered as he flailed about in an attempt to find his phone and stop the horrible noise, was that his body was feeling unbelievably sore. His buttocks in particular were feeling rather raw. He was pretty sure that meant something, but he was in no mood to puzzle it out.

The phone stopped ringing, then started again two seconds later, and half way through the ring tone, he finally found it in his trench coat which was lying on the floor with all his other clothes.

"What?" he grumbled into the phone, not bothering to see who the caller was.

He was answered with a long, piercing whistle down the phone line. He yelled, swore, held the phone away from his ear and winced at the painful throbbing all the noise was giving his head. He would have hung up as well, only it was then that he noticed the name on the phone.

"Jackie?" he said when he dared to put the phone to his ear once more. "What the hell was that for?"

"How's the head this morning, Papa?" she asked in false-sweetness. "Feeling nice and hungover?"

Jackie might have gotten her looks and mutation from him, but Remy knew with absolutely certainty that she had inherited her vicious streak from her mother.

"I feel like crap," Remy replied, rubbing his head. "And that was even before you whistled down the phone line. What the hell?"

"Now don't tell me you've forgotten all about last night? You know, when you _embarrassed_ me in front of the only real friend I have ever made outside of the Guild? The girl I happen to be sharing a room with?" Jackie demanded.

Remy frowned, trying to think.

"Brown hair?" he said at last. "With white streaks at the front?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"Désolé, Sunshine," he said. "Everything a little fuzzy. What happened?"

"You asked her for sex in exchange for the Cure, you bastard!" Jackie yelled at him, and Remy was forced to hold the phone away from his ear again. "Yeah, that's right. You didn't just proposition my friend and room mate, you treated her like some crappy, cheap prostitute! And I _told_ you we were coming, but you couldn't even be bothered being sober!"

"Désolé, désolé, Jackie," Remy said. "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"You still did."

The door to the bedroom opened then, and Remy's eyes widened as he saw the leather-clad woman at the doorway. The events of last night came back to him in a rush, as did the features of the bedroom, and he realised exactly where he was.

"Uhh, and as much as I'd love to stay and chat," Remy said. "I should get going."

"Hair of the dog doesn't work," was Jackie's parting remark before hanging up in his ear.

The woman kicked the door shut behind her with her high-heeled stiletto boot and sauntered over to Remy.

"This isn't a hotel, you know," she said.

"Désolé," Remy said. "I'll go."

He started to get up, but she stopped him, her riding crop smacking him in the middle of the chest and pushing him back down on the bed again. She made a tsking sound.

"I'm afraid I can't just let you go that easily, Remy," she said. "You said so yourself last night: You've been a very naughty little boy, and you need to be punished."

Remy groaned and rubbed his temples as she climbed up onto the bed as well and straddled him.

"I do hope," she went on, running her crop across his face, "that you were planning on paying for another session."

"That depends," he replied, "do you have anything for a hangover?"

"Sure I do."

"Then I'm paying for another session."

"Excellent," she said. "We'll deal with the hangover after."

* * *

><p>Marie and Jackie did not talk about what happened. Marie had no interest in bad mouthing Remy in front of his daughter who clearly loved him despite what he did. Jackie honestly didn't know what to say to Marie that hadn't already been said. So neither girl said a thing, they just went on like nothing happened.<p>

Marie's powers started coming back rapidly. The voices got louder, and there were enough minor absorptions to convince Marie to start wearing her gloves more often. She knew she was going to start getting funny looks and questions when they came into the hotter weather, and she wasn't looking forward to dealing with it at all. She was still working up the nerve to call Kitty and tell her they'd been right to worry.

It happened three weeks later that Jackie, Marie and a handful of their friends—including Brett—decided to hit the club for a night of dancing, if not drinking, as most of them were underage. Jackie pulled Mason—a student who was attending on a football scholarship—out onto the dance floor with her, and Marie managed to convince Brett to dance with her as well. Brett was clearly uncomfortable with the scene, not really used to going out to clubs.

It would have been okay if Brett hadn't stumbled, and even then it still would have been fine if his hand hadn't touched the inch of bare skin between the top of Marie's glove and the end of her sleeve. Marie felt the absorption begin immediately. She wrapped one arm around Brett and dislodged his grip with the other. For a moment everything seemed fine, and then Brett's head fell forward and his forehead touched the bare skin of her upper chest (she would later curse herself for wearing the V-neck). By the time Marie managed to break contact and got Brett away from the crowd, it was too late. She would be very surprised if he woke up in less than twenty-four hours.

"What happened?" asked Toby, one of their group who had spotted them.

"I... I..." Marie stammered, her mouth going dry as the words failed her.

"Hey, Brett," said Sandra, kneeling by her friend. "Yoohoo, wakey wakey. Hey, help me get him on his side."

Her friends ended up taking over, eventually getting Brett outside away from the crowd and finally—when he remained unconscious—took him off to the hospital. Jackie somehow managed to separate Marie from everyone else without looking suspicious for not going with them to the hospital, and got Marie back to the dorm. Jackie didn't need to ask what happened: the evidence was written all over Marie's face.

Jackie honestly didn't know what to say to Marie. She did understand not being able to control powers; if it wasn't for her father's help, she had sincere doubts she would have ever gotten control of her own powers. Nevertheless, almost overnight Marie turned into an anxious recluse. She spent the entire weekend holed up in the dorm, not even going out for meals. Jackie had no idea what was the appropriate response on her end. Did she leave Marie be? Did she try to bring her back out of her shell? Was this what guilt was like, or was this something else? She was very much relieved when Marie asked her to buy some food for her; at least then she felt like she was doing something useful.

Marie wasn't sure what to do. She knew she needed to come clean to her friends, but what with Brett in a coma now, it felt like too little too late. Even people who might be okay with her being a mutant and even with her mutation would still condemn her for her silence, and she wouldn't blame them.

She didn't want to be ostracised either.

Sunday night, Brett was still comatose and Marie had classes in the morning. She knew she had to leave the dorm eventually, and sooner or later she was going to have to face the music. At least she knew she wouldn't be ostracised by everyone: Jackie hadn't shown her any sign that she was the least bit bothered by her powers and her lack of control thereof. Of course, Jackie also seemed to have a very "survival of the fittest" attitude and no doubt considered "showing fear" to be weak. Marie considered Jackie a friend, but she wasn't really sure Jackie was her ally. Jackie didn't exactly strike Marie as the kind to jump up to anyone's defence, with the incident with her father being the sole indication to the contrary.

* * *

><p>Jackie was somewhat surprised Sunday night when she came back to the dorm and found Marie getting dressed for a night out.<p>

"Going somewhere?" she asked obviously.

"Umm, yeah... Well..." Marie replied hesitatingly. "Actually, about that, I was wondering if I could borrow your car?"

Jackie was silent for a moment. She hated handing over her keys to anyone, including the mechanic. That said, she'd be very surprised if Marie didn't bring the car back. What time she brought the car back was another story; from the way Marie was avoiding looking at her in the eye, Jackie was fairly certain she knew where she was going.

"Sure," Jackie said finally, fishing her car keys out of her pocket and tossing them over.

"Thanks," Marie replied, catching them.

There was more silence, and then Jackie asked: "Did you want the address?"

* * *

><p>At first Remy thought the knock on his door was just his imagination, but then he heard it again. Reluctantly, he got up and made his way over to the door. He opened it and found a young woman with brown hair and two streaks of white framing her face standing on his doorstep. She wore long black gloves, black pants and a short-sleeved green shirt. A handbag was hanging over one shoulder. He frowned slightly.<p>

"Marie, right?" he asked. "Jackie's room mate?"

"Uhh, yes," Marie replied. "I was just... I umm..."

"What can I do for you?" Remy asked when words seemed to fail her.

"I... I... I've reconsidered your offer," she said, avoiding his eyes.

Remy clicked his tongue thoughtfully, then held the door open and gestured for her to come in. Marie stepped inside quietly and tried not to wince as the door shut behind her.

The living room had been cleaned up since her last visit. Notably, the black patch behind the lounge was gone. There was no sign of any beer, although there was the butt of a cigarette sitting in an ash tray on the coffee table. As Remy walked in front of her and sat down on the arm of the lounge, Marie realised he'd shaved in the meantime as well, although he did have a five o'clock shadow.

"Just what is your mutation, chère?" he asked after a long silence between them.

Marie explained. Remy nodded thoughtfully, and then questioned her on a number of details. Just as Marie was starting to get rather annoyed with the third degree, Remy changed the subject:

"I run a clean operation. I don't reuse needles and they've all been sterilised," he informed her. "I don't get repeat business if my customers are dead. I administer the Cure personally, and only to mutants who actually need it. Normally, my fence deals with this kind of stuff, but quite frankly, I don't trust the guy to not sell the Cure to people I don't want within ten miles of it."

Marie nodded. She remembered what Jackie had told her about her father not wanting the wrong people getting their hands on it, and couldn't blame him after being experimented on.

"Now, as for my fee..." he said, standing up and closing the distance between them.

"Umm," Marie said awkwardly, licking her lips nervously. "You should probably, umm, give me the dose first, otherwise you'll just end up in a coma like—"

"Shh," Remy said and slid his hands onto her hips, one hand between her hip and her handbag.

Marie stared determinedly over Remy's shoulder as his hands slowly moved down over the clothes and around to her behind. She pressed her lips tightly together, trying to tell herself she was doing the right thing: this wasn't just for herself, this was also for her friends. Remy's hands wound their way to her stomach and finally moved up to her breasts. Marie panicked.

"I can't do this," she said, backing away from him like he'd burned her and shaking her head. "I just... I can't. I... I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

Marie started to open the door, but Remy got there before she could bolt completely and pushed the door shut again, leaning on it to prevent her from opening it again.

"Care to renegotiate?" he asked.

Marie looked nervously between the door and Remy. Did she have a choice? She never should have come here.

"I... I..." she stammered.

"Believe it or not, chère, I don't usually negotiate drunk or with my libido," Remy said with a slight smile, hoping to calm the poor girl down. "I'm guessing you wouldn't have come back here unless you were really desperate to get the Cure, but verbal consent or not, _I'm_ not so desperate for sex that I would take an unwilling femme to my bed."

Marie bit back a comment about why he asked for it in the first place, and instead: "What do you want, then?"

"Well," Remy said, glad she wasn't freaking out or anything. "Since you don't have the money for it, then we'll have to settle on a service that's of the same value to me. There's a family picnic coming up Saturday week. I'd like you to come with me and pose as my new mistress."

"New..._mistress?_" Marie repeated in confusion.

"Oui," Remy said, a smirk appearing on his face. "You're sexy, gorgeous and half my age. I can see the steam pouring out of my wife's ears already."

"You're _married?_" Marie demanded.

"You didn't know?"

"From the way Jackie spoke, I assumed you were divorced."

"Hmph," Remy said, folding his arms across his chest. "I wish. Unfortunately, our marriage was arranged."

"That's no excuse to cheat on your wife!"

"She started it."

"Oh that's real mature."

"Hey," Remy said, pointing his finger at her. "I'm not telling you this to get a lecture on what's appropriate behaviour in a marriage. Do you want the Cure or not?"

Marie glared at him, but said nothing. Remy took her silence as a yes.

"On the day, I expect to be able to do the following with you: kissing, touching your legs, arms, back, neck, etcetera, as well as your butt. You may touch any part of me that you like," he said, and then quickly added: "Non-violent touching, of course. Jackie will be attending as well, so I'll pick you both up at the same time. Additionally, every spare night between now and the picnic, you need to come here for practice."

"Practice?" Marie repeated. "Hey, I've had a boyfriend before."

"And I'm sure that you and your boyfriend did all sorts of fun things together," Remy replied levelly. "But _we_ haven't, and last time I touched you, you ran off like a scared rabbit. I want to infuriate Belle, not give her ammunition to use against me."

"Fine," Marie said tersely.

"We have a deal then?" Remy asked carefully.

"Yes, we have a deal," Marie said.

"Bon," Remy replied and then gestured to the lounge. "Have a seat and I'll be right back with your dose."

Marie nodded, sat down on the lounge while Remy left the room. She pulled off her gloves and shoved them into her bag which she put on the floor, and wondered if she was making the right decision here. At least he wasn't making her sleep with him, although she wasn't really sure if making out with a married man on a regular basis for almost two weeks was any better than having a one night stand with a married man. By the time Remy returned, she decided that she'd rather pretend to be in a relationship with a married man, than feel like a whore for having sex in exchange for a drug.

Remy sat down beside her and put on a pair of latex gloves, then got the needle ready.

"Alright chère," Remy said as he swabbed her arm with the rubbing alcohol. "This is it. As soon as this needle goes in, I've fulfilled my end of the bargain."

Marie didn't miss what he wasn't saying aloud: "Don't force me to collect from you later."

"Do it," she said.

It felt the same as the last time she got the Cure. She could practically feel the voices in her head settling down to a much lower volume until there was nothing but silence in the back of her mind.

"So," said Remy. "What kind of band-aid do you want? I've got Pirate, Disney Princess and plain."

Marie stared at him, and then at the three boxes she hadn't noticed him bring to the table.

"Umm," she said with a slight giggle, "Disney Princess."

Remy chuckled and pulled out one of the round band-aids to place on her arm.

"Why in the world do you have Disney Princess band-aids?" asked Rogue.

"Plain ones are boring," Remy replied with a grin.

He dumped the garbage up in a separate bag, charged it up, and tossed it behind the lounge. Marie, knowing how Jackie's powers worked, expected the explosion that followed and looked at Remy curiously (if he was in the habit of doing that, it explained the black patch she saw there last time).

"Best way to dispose of the evidence," Remy said. "Reduce it to dust. Now..."

Marie caught her breath as Remy shifted right up next to her. His lips moved close to hers and she could smell cigarette on his breath.

"Safe now?" he asked her.

"Uhh, yes, it should be."

"Bon," he replied.

One of his hands went around her waist as his lips captured hers. Practising was definitely a very good idea, he decided when Marie failed to respond to his attentions the way he wanted her to; she was stiff as a board and seemed to be trying to avoid his lips.

"Okay umm," Marie said finally, placing her fingers between their lips, "can we just stop for just one second?"

Remy eyed her suspiciously, but gave a half nod. As she leaned forward to grab her bag, he moved the hand that was on her waist to her leg. If she tried to pepper spray him, she was going to be in for a rude shock. When she sat up again, however, it was a piece of gum that lay in her palm.

"Can you please chew this first?" she asked. "I'm sorry, but your breath is disgusting."

Remy looked at her blankly for a moment and then started to laugh. Marie raised an eyebrow as he stood up.

"Keep your gum, chère," he said. "I've got breath mints."

"Okay, good," said Marie as he walked over to the cabinet and opened up a drawer. "By the way, what did you want me to call you? I'm sure as hell not going to call you 'Papa' like Jackie does, and I'm sure that your umm, mistresses don't call you 'Mr Boudreaux'."

"No one calls me Boudreaux," Remy replied, shutting the drawer again more sharply than he intended. "That's Bella Donna's name. I'm LeBeau."

"Oh, sorry," Marie said sincerely. "I just thought that since Jackie was Boudreaux..."

"Actually she's Boudreaux-LeBeau," Remy said, sitting back down besides her, now with the breath mint in his mouth. "She shortened it to Boudreaux when she went to college."

"Oh."

"You can call me Remy."

"I'm Marie."

"I know."

"Oh, right, I knew that."

Remy chuckled and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into him. He felt her go rigid against him and shook his head.

"Chérie," he said gently. "You're going to have to relax. I won't bite. Well, not unless you want me to."

"I'm getting there. I just wasn't expecting to spend the evening in the arms of my room mate's father until..." Marie paused and looked around for a clock, "about an hour ago."

"Oh," Remy said, trailing his fingers up and down her arm. "So you were counting on adrenaline or something to get you through sex, hein?"

"I don't know," Marie replied. "I just didn't want to put anyone into a coma again."

"And now you don't have to worry about that," Remy said, deciding that planting kisses on her neck would help her relax. "Instead you get to have your way with a sexy, older man."

Marie snickered. She turned her head and Remy lifted his.

"Older isn't the same as mature," she informed him.

"Good," said Remy. "Maturity is for the weak. Now, enough talk. Get those pretty little lips over here and kiss me, woman."

Marie clamped down on her reluctance and after a moment's hesitation she met his lips with hers. Her heart was thumping so loudly, she wondered that Remy didn't hear it. Remy cupped her face in one hand and kissed her back. His other hand returned to her waist. Marie just didn't know what to do with her hands; if this had been Bobby she was kissing, she probably would be getting him out of his shirt at this point.

But Remy wasn't Bobby, and Marie couldn't hope to pretend he was, even if she wanted to. Bobby didn't smell of cigarettes or taste of breath mints. He certainly didn't kiss the same way, something Marie discovered about the same time she realised she'd automatically opened her mouth, allowing Remy's tongue access to her own. Too much French kissing with Bobby, she supposed, and felt a little like a traitor for thinking that Remy was a better kisser. Marie mentally told herself Bobby would probably be just as good as Remy if he had as many years experience too, and tried to relax.

Remy dropped his hand from her face to take hold of one of her hands in his and press it gently against his chest. He took a moment to linger over her long, slender fingers and then moved his hand to the back of her head, entangling his fingers in her hair. He wished she would relax a bit more, but he supposed it was a little early to expect her to melt into his arms. Marie's fingers twitched slightly, feeling his hard muscle even through his shirt.

Slowly, still kissing with Remy, Marie lifted up her other hand and touched his jaw and cheek. Her skin hit the fine stubble on his face and she shivered at the contact, realising at that moment that she never really had much contact with facial hair until that moment. Her own father had been clean shaven, as had her male friends in Mississippi. The only man at Xaviers who wasn't clean shaven all the time was Logan, and his beard was nothing like Remy's stubble. She could now appreciate why stubble was compared to sandpaper, and why a lot of women didn't like it. Marie continued to trace her fingers over Remy's lower face and came to the startling conclusion that she actually liked it.

Marie's initial reluctance became lost as she became more focused on Remy's skin. She had been reduced to covering up again, to wearing gloves. This was the first time in weeks she'd been able to touch someone without hurting them, and even her voices were silent; not even the slightest whisper. She kissed him eagerly.

Remy held Marie tightly, pulling her into him, and somewhat pleased that she'd gone from rigid to relaxed. He was also pleased that she had kissed him open-mouthed—he'd been certain she was going to be closed mouthed and he was going to have to make an issue of it. There was no way he wasn't going to kiss his mistress—fake or otherwise—in front of Bella Donna without using tongue.

Marie's shirt lifted just a fraction as she adjusted her position to one more comfortable, and that quarter of an inch was all the invitation Remy needed to slip just the tips of his fingers in and run them ever so gently over her exposed skin. Marie only sighed and let him, much too preoccupied with enjoying the pleasure of human contact again. It had been over a year since she'd kissed anyone like this. Over a year since she had any kind of physical intimacy...

Intimacy. The word stuck in Marie's thoughts and made her freeze again. Abruptly she remembered exactly _who_ she was kissing. This was wrong. It was definitely wrong. She should not be in this position with a virtual stranger, let alone someone else's husband. And she had no right to be enjoying herself either, for both of those reasons, _and_ because the guy she was interested in was currently lying in hospital in a coma.

Remy felt Marie freeze again and stifled a sigh. He'd better be able to get her out of this by the time of the picnic, or Bella Donna would never let him live it down. He stopped kissing her mouth and moved back to kissing her neck. She relaxed again after a few moments, and he continued with his affections from both lips and hands, having no idea of the true impact they were having on Marie.

Remy was sure that Jackie wouldn't be mad at him now. No money had changed hands, and if anything (despite his love of infuriating Bella Donna at any given opportunity), Marie was getting the better deal. Plus, given the nature of Marie's powers, Remy was sure that Jackie would appreciate not having to worry about being absorbed by her. It was win-win-win.

* * *

><p>Jackie was just about to turn in for the night when the dorm door opened and she looked at Marie in surprise as she walked in.<p>

"You're home early," said Jackie.

"Early?" Marie repeated, putting down her bag after closing the door behind her. "I should have been back before now; I've got class in the morning."

"Yeah but you were with mon père," Jackie pointed out, finding the words rather distasteful. "I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow morning."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be happy to know your dad didn't make me sleep with him," Marie replied.

Jackie thought about this seriously while Marie started getting ready for bed.

"On the one hand, oui," Jackie said finally. "I'm used to my parents sleeping around, but the idea of one of them sleeping with one of my friends is pretty gross. On the other hand, I know mon père, and I know he wouldn't have let you off so easy. What did he ask for instead?"

Marie pulled a face. "He wants me to pretend to be his new mistress at some family picnic coming up, and I have to come over for 'practice'."

Jackie looked at her in horror.

"Family picnic?" she spluttered. "He... You... _F__amily picnic!_"

Marie gave her an odd look. "There a problem?"

"Problem? Why would there be a problem?" Jackie replied sarcastically. "Did he happen to tell you anything about the Guild?"

"What guild?" Marie asked.

Jackie groaned.

"I am so, so sorry," said Jackie, sinking down on her bed.

"What is it?"

"You'd better sit down," Jackie said, and waited until Marie had done so before continuing. "I'm sorry you got involved like this, Marie. I never dreamed things would go this far. See, there used to be deux guilds in N'Orleans: The Thieves Guild and the Assassins Guild. They feuded for centuries, and the times of bloodshed tended to outweigh the times of peace. One day, a Princess of Assassins and a Prince of Thieves actually decided they liked each other. The deux Kings decided they could end the feuding and unite their guilds by marrying the Princess and the Prince off when they came of age."

Marie raised her eyebrows but nodded as Jackie continued:

"Anyway, after a brief interlude when the Prince of Assassins decided to have the Prince of Thieves abducted and used for mutant experimentation," Jackie said dryly, "the Prince and Princess were wed, and became the King and Queen of the United Guilds. Everything was fine between the pair for awhile—they even had a daughter who would be raised as both Thief and Assassin. Unfortunately, they started cheating on each other. To this day no one's really sure who started it, although they both blame the other, and the only reason why they stay together is because to divorce means that any Thief or Assassin who disapproves of the union will have licence to start the war again."

"That's one hell of a story," Marie replied, frowning. "Let me get this straight; your dad is the King of Thieves?"

"Oui."

"And your mother is the Queen of Assassins."

"Oui."

"And you're...both an Assassin and a Thief."

"And damn good at it too."

Marie was silent for a moment, and then said: "I don't even want to know why you're planning on joining the FBI."

Jackie laughed. "You're taking getting involved with the major crime family of N'Orleans pretty well."

"Hell, you are a crime family, aren't you?" Marie said, looking at Jackie with alarm. "I'm not going to... Your mother isn't..."

"No, Maman hasn't killed any of Papa's mistresses yet," Jackie assured her. "And I doubt she'd start with the one that's a friend of mine. Wait, I take that back. She did kill one of Papa's mistresses once, but she was an undercover cop. Papa insisted that he knew and was setting her up, but Maman didn't believe him and accused him of endangering the Guild and... Well, we don't really need a recounting of that argument."

"I don't think I want to know any more about this," Marie said.

"Well, there was a reason why I told you," Jackie said. "See, this picnic? It's not only Maman and Papa's wedding anniversary, it's also the anniversary of the Unification of the Guilds. It's not just going to be family there, it's open invitation to any Guild member, and it's one of Maman and Papa's favourite times to flaunt their new partners in front of each other."

Marie groaned and rubbed her head.

"Look, you shouldn't have problems with the Guild at large, or even with the immediate family. Maman and Papa are going to receive the brunt of the, umm, disapproval," Jackie told her. "But there will be loose talk about, uhh, Guild stuff, so..."

"Oh don't worry," said Marie. "As soon as this is over, I'm going to forget it ever happened. By the way, couldn't this have waited until morning? It's a little late at night to be told I'm sharing a room with an assassin. I mean, I'm sure if you were going to kill me you would have done it by now but—"

"Yeah," Jackie interrupted dryly. "Let me give you some inside knowledge—"

"Haven't you given me enough?"

"—we Assassins only kill on contract or for security reasons. You're safe as long as you don't blab and no one puts a hit out on you; which I find somewhat unlikely, seeing as how you have no money, you're not in a position of power and you're not married."

"Married? Why would—"

"There's a reason why the cops investigate husbands and wives first in a murder case."

"This is a really bad conversation."

"Nah," said Jackie. "The bad conversation we had was you talking about making out with Papa."

There was silence for a moment, and then:

"He's actually a pretty good kisser," said Marie.

"Oh don't tell me that," Jackie said, pulling a face. "I mean, I kind of figured it out on my own, seeing as how femmes keep kissing him, but I don't want to hear it from you."

"Well, you told me your dad was a thief, which I could have handled, but now I know I've committed myself to pretending to be the mistress of a crime lord. I really could have done without knowing that," Marie replied. "He's got nice hands too."

"Damn you."

"Misery looooves company."

"Oh that reminds me," Jackie said with false sweetness. "My Oncle Julien may or may not be at the picnic."

"Is he the Prince of Assassins you mentioned? Or do you have another Oncle?"

"Well, I do have another oncle—Papa's frère, Henri. But, oui, Oncle Julien is the Prince of Assassins that set up Papa to be abducted."

"Why didn't he just kill him?" Marie asked. "Why go to all the trouble of setting him up?"

"I told you," Jackie replied. "We don't kill unless it's for security reasons or we have a contract. Oncle Julien would have been executed if they could have proved he killed Papa."

"Wow."

"You remember how I said Papa used to have eyes like mine?"

"Yeah."

"Well, when Papa escaped, and everyone found out what Julien had done," Jackie said, the false sweetness seeping into her voice again, "Grand-père Marius—Maman's père—gave Grand-père Jean-Luc—Papa's père—the right to decide Oncle Julien's punishment."

"Do I want to know this?" Marie asked.

"Nope," Jackie replied gleefully. "Grand-père Jean-Luc decided that Oncle Julien's eyes should be gouged out."

"Oh hell," Marie said, her hands going to her own eyes.

"And even though he had eye patches to keep the dust and stuff out," Jackie went on ghoulishly, "he doesn't always wear them, 'cause he likes to freak people out."

Jackie then proceeded to laugh at Marie's little freak out at the very idea.

"Don't play the game," Jackie said smugly, "if you're not prepared to finish it."


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:**

For those of you on Story or Author Alerts, just double check and make sure you've read Chapter 3. There was at least a twelve hour delay between posting the chapter (and receiving the alert), and the chapter actually appearing on the site. Also, here's hoping _this_ chapter appears on time, heh.

Also, a friendly reminder that for the purposes of this story, I am taking into account the alterations made to Gambit's powers in _X-men Origins: Wolverine_. This reminder will become relevant later in the chapter ;)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

Marie didn't sleep the best that night, her dreams filled with eyeless men chasing after her, wanting to take her eyes. Jackie reported with much amusement the next morning that Marie had called out "not my eyes" in her sleep. Not wanting to give Jackie the satisfaction of knowing she'd gotten to her (at least, not any more than she already had), Marie treated Jackie's amusement with ignore and went about her business like nothing had happened.

It was a little harder to set everything aside when she was looking at Remy after Jackie dropped her off. Knowing that he was higher on the criminal hierarchy than just "petty thief" made her more than a little nervous.

"Bon soir, chérie," Remy said, holding the door open for her. "I forgot to tell you not to have dinner. You haven't eaten have you?"

"No," Marie replied as she stepped inside. "I had a late lunch."

"Bon," he said.

He shut the door and then wrapped his arm around Marie's waist to guide her to the kitchen. He felt her tense up and stifled a sigh. She had better be past this by the time of the picnic.

"What is that delicious smell?" Marie asked, and then they walked into the kitchen/dining and her eyes fell on two dinner plates full of food on the breakfast bar. There were two empty wine glasses, and a bottle of wine sitting in a bucket of ice.

"Baked catfish," Remy replied, sounding smug.

"I haven't had catfish before," Marie admitted as she sat down on the stool.

"How long have you been living in New Orleans, chère?" Remy asked, sitting down as well.

"Since September, when college started," Marie replied. "So only a few months."

"Clearly, I need to have a few words with Jackie," he joked. "Next thing you're going to tell me, you haven't had wine either."

"Sorry."

"Well, tonight we shall be having a Sauvignon Blanc," Remy said as he picked up the bottle.

Marie nodded and glanced around the kitchen while he took to the wine bottle with a corkscrew. There were a few dirty pots and pans, and other cooking implements, and she looked at Remy curiously.

"Did you cook all this?" she asked.

"Of course."

"Wow."

Remy chuckled softly and poured the white wine into their glasses.

"I have to say," Marie went on, "I wasn't expecting this. I thought you wanted to...erm, practice."

"We are," Remy replied.

"By eating catfish and drinking wine?" Marie asked dubiously.

"It's a picnic, there's going to be eating involved," Remy said, grinning at her.

Marie picked up her fork when she saw Remy do the same. "Is there going to be wine?"

"Beer," Remy replied, "and champagne."

"Alright then."

"Besides," Remy went on, gathering up his first mouthful of dinner, "you're supposed to be my mistress, chère, which means we should really spend some time getting to know each other. And speaking of which, what are you studying at college?"

"Engineering," Marie replied. "I haven't decided on a major yet, either mechanical or aerospace. I'm leaning towards aerospace though."

"Really?" Remy asked. "Into planes are you?"

"Yep."

"I have a plane, sort of," he said. "My baby doesn't fly any more."

"Aww sad," Marie replied, paused and then asked with a slight smile: "Isn't Jackie your baby?"

"No," Remy answered with a grin. "My plane's my baby. Jackie's my little ray of sunshine."

Marie laughed. Then there was silence for a time while they ate.

"How do you like it?" Remy asked.

"Oh, it's really good," Marie replied.

"Don't sound so surprised," he said, grinning. "Try the wine."

Marie tentatively took the glass to her lips and had a sip. She blinked a couple of times in response to the unfamiliar taste and Remy smiled at her reaction.

"So?" he asked.

Marie nodded. "Yeah, that's really nice."

"Glad you like it."

Silence fell once more and Marie figured it was probably her turn to say something, except that she had no idea what in the world to talk about with him. She certainly didn't want to ask him how work went today (assuming he did any), and had she even been interested in how his wife was, she suspected he wouldn't want to talk about that.

"So umm," she said finally, "got any hobbies?"

"What?" Remy asked with a wink. "Other than women?"

"Uhh…"

"I like poker," Remy said, rather amused at the 'deer caught in headlights' look Marie was now sporting. "That's how I got my baby, actually, I won her in a game: Jacks over Fives."

"What's 'Jacks over Fives'?" Marie asked, looking down at her plate and focusing on cutting her next mouthful.

"A full house, with trios Jacks and deux Fives," Remy replied. "I assume you've never played?"

"No."

"You really need to get out more, chère."

"Hey," Marie objected, lifting her head to glare at him, "I get out plenty."

"Oh really," Remy drawled, smirking at her. "Now why do I find that so hard to believe?"

"Hey, just because I haven't played poker, and I've never had wine before tonight does not mean I haven't done stuff," Marie insisted. "I bet you've never—"

Remy raised an eyebrow as Marie cut herself off.

"Never what, chérie?" he asked.

"Uhh," Marie replied, having remembered belatedly that half the stuff she had done in recent years involved the X-men and she probably shouldn't discuss any of it with outsiders, especially crime lords. "I'm thinking. I just remembered that you're a million years old, so you probably have done it."

Remy laughed.

"I go to clubs and stuff," Marie said finally. "Does that count?"

Remy shrugged. "It'll do for a start."

"So, uhh," Marie said slowly, "is there anything about this picnic I should know? I mean, I know the plan is to infuriate your wife, I just don't want to end up embarrassing you instead."

Remy paused in his eating and studied her for a moment.

"How much did Jackie tell you?" he asked.

"Well, she told me about the Guild, and why your marriage was arranged and why you can't divorce. And she told me this picnic was the anniversary," Marie replied, and then added darkly: "And she told me about her Uncle Julien and that his eyes have been...ugh."

Remy nodded slowly.

"Just be polite and charming," he said. "And if in doubt, follow my lead—or Jackie's. Ignore Julien. I always do."

"Okay."

"That's polite to everyone, including Belle," Remy added.

"Oh I wasn't planning on being rude to the Assassin Queen, that's for sure," Marie replied dryly.

"Heh, don't worry chère," Remy said smugly. "She won't kill you, unless you turn out to be an undercover cop or something."

"So I've been told."

"But...you don't believe it," Remy said slowly, watching Marie's face.

Marie hesitated before replying: "I guess I'm still coming to terms with the fact that I've gotten involved with a crime family. Just put it down to watching too many movies about the Mafia."

"I'd promise you we're harmless, but you'd know that was a lie," Remy said with a grin. "The Guild is...just a business, like any other family owned and operated company."

"Really," Marie drawled disbelievingly. "You're just like a 'ma and pa' grocery store."

"Exactly," Remy agreed cheerfully. "Except instead of fruit and veggies, we sell hot property and hitman services. And just like a grocery store, the owners occasionally take advantage of being able to get wholesale prices to acquire what they need for themselves; sometimes we steal for personal reasons, or kill for security reasons. We're still human, chère."

"I didn't mean to imply that you weren't."

"We just live an alternate lifestyle."

"Now you're making it sound like you're all gay or bisexual or something."

"Actually it's not really a picnic," Remy said with a wicked gleam in his eye. "We are in fact, going to have an all out orgy—"

"Hey, don't make fun of me," Marie objected, glaring at him. "I had every right to be concerned."

"Who says I'm making fun of you?" Remy asked and deliberately checked Marie out. "I'm looking forward to seeing you naked."

"You're going to be waiting a long time."

"Anticipation will make it better."

"You suck."

"How'd you know?"

"Aww man," Marie complained and rubbed her forehead. "I'm going back to eating now."

Remy chuckled wickedly, then leaned in towards her: "I do that too."

Marie dropped her fork.

"No," she said. "No, no, no, I definitely don't want to hear what you get up to in the bedroom."

"I don't know, chérie," Remy replied, rather enjoying this turn of conversation. "Everyone's going to think you're already doing this stuff with me."

"Yeah, _think_ that," Marie said firmly. "Not going to watch us actually do it."

"Well now that you mention it—" Remy began musingly.

"I don't want to know."

"—there was that one year where Crystal and I actually did have sex in front of everyone."

"I'm not listening to this," Marie insisted and covered her ears. "La la la."

"It was actually pretty cool," Remy went on as if Marie hadn't said anything. "I even got the condom on without anyone noticing until things got a little...loud."

Remy grinned at Marie, still with her hands over her ears singing "la la la." When she saw he'd stopped talking, she slowly lowered her hands again, looking at him distrustfully.

"I have to ask, chérie," he said. "What's the point of going to all this trouble of being able to touch people, if you're squeamish about the most intimate form of touch there is?"

"I'm not squeamish," Marie replied stubbornly. "I just have certain standards about what's deemed an appropriate topic of conversation at the dinner table, and a short list of people I want to discuss _that_ particular topic of conversation with. Besides, Mr Takes-Touch-For-Granted, you try walking around all day every day completely covered up from head to toe, restricted to touching other people through a layer of clothing. I'll have you know that there's a certain intimacy to skin-to-skin contact that you can't get otherwise. And I'm not talking about sex. I mean in the simple things: hugs, handshakes, a high five. Doing that through a layer of clothing makes it so impersonal."

Remy frowned and fell into a thoughtful silence. When he didn't reply, Marie returned to her meal. She managed to clean her plate and finish off her glass of wine before another word was said. Remy finished his about the same time.

"Why don't we take this into the lounge?" he asked. "I'll just get these in the sink—"

"Did you want a hand?" Marie asked as she got off the stool.

"No, no," Remy insisted, picking up their plates. "You go on ahead, I'll be right there."

Marie nodded and made her way back down the hall to the living room. She sat down on one end of the lounge and looked around the room while she waited for Remy to join her. She had to admit, it had been a nice surprise to come over and find a home-cooked meal waiting for her. She had rather been expecting Remy to "get right down to business", as it were. He certainly hadn't wasted any time on their first night, and Marie found herself blushing slightly at the memory.

Remy arrived not long thereafter, with the wine and their glasses in hand. He put them down on the coffee table and refilled their glasses. Marie didn't tell him she hadn't planned on having any more.

"So chère," Remy said, leaning back on the lounge with his glass, "tell me about yourself."

Marie shrugged and shifted around on the lounge to look at him, putting her leg on the cushion in the process.

"I don't know. What do you want to know?" Marie asked.

"Anything," he replied. "How was growing up in Mississippi?"

"How'd you know?" she asked, regarding him in surprise.

"I have an ear for accents," Remy said, grinning at her. "So?"

"Not a whole lot to say, really," Marie said with a shrug. "Only child, pretty much brought up by my parents and my Aunt Carrie. Lots of friends at school."

Remy looked at her expectantly and Marie considered for a moment before saying any more:

"Got kicked out of home when my powers manifested and I put the first boy I ever kissed into a coma for three weeks."

"Ahh," said Remy. "And now the story gets interesting. You were how old?"

"Sixteen, almost seventeen."

"Seriously?" Remy asked. "I was thirteen when I got mine, and I think Jackie was about thirteen, fourteen."

Marie shrugged. "Different people manifest at different ages."

"True, true," Remy conceded. "So what happened then?"

"Well, there was this trip I'd always wanted to take," Marie said. "I was planning on doing it after high school but... Well, yeah, obviously I ended up doing it a lot sooner, only with a lot less money. Fortunately, I got picked up by some other mutants who run a school for mutants, so I finished high school there, and well, here I am."

"A school for mutants, hein?" Remy asked. "Xaviers?"

"You've heard of it," Marie said with a nod.

"Oui. I was invited to join them once," he replied musingly. "Even if I had been interested, I had other commitments."

"Why weren't you interested?" Marie asked curiously. "I mean, you've gone to so much trouble to make sure that the Cure doesn't fall into the wrong hands..."

"Ahh," Remy said, tapping the side of his nose, "but they're 'honest folks' chère. Odds are, they probably would have objected to me stealing the stuff in the first place."

"Good point."

"So?" Remy asked when nothing else was said straight away.

"So...what?" Marie asked.

"Aren't you going to ask me how my day was or something?"

Marie laughed lightly.

"How was your day or something?" she asked with a slight smirk.

"Smart ass," he replied, grinning. "My day was fine. I slept in, skipped going to the office, bummed around and finally prepared for your much anticipated arrival."

"You actually go to an office, do you?"

"Reluctantly," Remy said, sliding over to her. "My something is doing good too."

"Now who's the smart ass?"

"My something would like to do something with your smart ass."

"Take it out for tea and crumpets?"

"Oui," Remy replied with a twinkle in his eye. "'Tea' and 'crumpets'."

"This conversation has taken a disturbing turn," Marie replied dryly, turning her head away from him.

Remy put his now-empty wine glass back onto the coffee table, and when he sat back up, he ran his fingers over her legs. He was a little disappointed she was wearing pants rather than a skirt and a rueful smile appeared on his face when he realised what Marie meant about skin to skin contact being more personal.

Marie watched as Remy lifted his hand and ran his fingers through her hair.

"Has anyone told you recently just how beautiful you are?" he asked softly.

"Uhh, not really," Marie replied awkwardly. "Not unless you count last night when you told me I was 'gorgeous' and 'sexy'."

Remy smiled and trailed his fingers ever so lightly over her cheek and down to her jaw.

"And you are," he said, and then caressed her lips with his own.

Much to Marie's surprise, that was it. She had expected him to kiss her again, more firmly this time, but instead he moved slightly away from her; enough to give some breathing room without being rude. Remy ignored the confused look on her face and began to regale her with a tale of mischief from his childhood.

Come the end of the evening, Marie was somewhat surprised to get home and realised that there had been very little making out at all that night. There had been the odd caress, the occasional chaste kiss, even his arm over her shoulders for awhile, but nothing like the night before when he had been all over her like a rash. Of the two nights, Marie definitely preferred this night. She liked having the opportunity to get to know him, and she was still rather uncomfortable with the idea of intimately kissing a married man.

* * *

><p>Marie didn't see Remy again until Thursday night, when they went out for a movie. Marie took Tuesday and Wednesday nights off on account of having a paper due and a night class. This time, Marie waited in the parking lot of the dorm.<p>

"Why am I not surprised you drive a convertible?" Marie asked dryly as Remy pulled up in his red car alongside her.

Remy chuckled as Marie got in. The night was largely uneventful; they actually watched—and enjoyed—the movie. Although Marie had been expecting otherwise, there was very little kissing done. She had a class first thing in the morning the next day, so Remy dropped her back off at the dorms when they were done.

* * *

><p>On Friday night, Remy came by the dorms to pick Marie up again, only it was Jackie who was waiting for him.<p>

"She's still getting ready," Jackie told her father as he got out of the car.

Remy shrugged and glanced at his watch. "I guess I am a little early."

Jackie shook her head as they began the walk to her room.

"I can't believe you got Marie involved in the family business," Jackie said tersely to him. "I _was_ trying to keep Jackie Boudreaux separate from Le Diable Blanc."

"Then you should have thought about that before you introduced her to me as a potential client," Remy replied evenly. "Especially one who would need to pay in service, rather than in cash. And you can't tell me you didn't know it was a possibility: just because I'm open to negotiation, does not mean I give discounts. And you had better not start either, fille. Discounts undervalue your work."

"Oh really? So you think getting her to irritate Maman—to say nothing of whatever else you might be doing with her when you're practising—is worth the going rate?"

Remy shrugged. "I've paid for an expensive escort service."

"Shall I tell Maman that?" Jackie asked sweetly, stopping outside her door.

"Sunshine, you do not want to open that can of worms," Remy replied coolly.

Jackie sniffed condescendingly and opened up the door. Marie poked her head out of the bathroom door.

"I'll be just a second," she said, and closed the door again.

Remy chuckled. Jackie gave him a dire look. A moment later, Marie stepped out again and Remy was rather pleased to see that his ploy to get Marie to wear a skirt had worked (telling her he was going to take her out for a night of dinner and dancing). It was a long skirt, but it had a slit up the side, so he could work with that.

"You look beautiful, chérie," he told her, reaching for her hand so he could kiss it.

"Thank you," Marie replied, smiling.

"Ugh," Jackie said.

"Ready to go?" Remy asked.

"Sure."

"Bon."

"Have fun," Jackie said dryly as Remy lead Marie towards the door. "Don't stay up too late. And Marie? Feel free to hit him with the pepper spray if he starts mishandling you."

"I'll mishandle you in a minute," Remy retorted good-naturedly.

Marie giggled.

"I can't say I really blame her for having misgivings about this," Marie said as she walked with Remy back out of the dorms to his car. "I'd probably have a few things to say about it if any of my friends decided to date my dad. And not just because he's old, married and hates mutants. Particularly the last one, 'cause half my friends are mutants so I would be all 'wait you can date a mutant, but you can't have one for a daughter? You suck.'"

Remy chuckled.

"Although that said," Marie said thoughtfully, "I think I'd probably disown _him_ for cheating on Mama."

Remy gave a non-committal grunt. Nothing else was said until they approached Remy's red convertible. He held the door open for Marie, and then climbed over his door to get in.

"I'm lazy," Remy said as he put the key into the ignition.

"Evidentially," Marie replied with a smirk.

The trip to the restaurant was largely spent exchanging the usual pleasantries. When they arrived at first Marie felt a little under dressed, but took refuge in the fact that Remy was wearing good casual too. They were shown to their table and ordered. Remy ordered a couple of glasses of wine and when the waiter asked to check their ID, slipped him a note and commented it was rude to ask a lady her age. Marie couldn't face the waiter after that, feeling a little embarrassed.

"What did you do that for?" Marie asked as soon as the waiter departed with their order.

"But it _is_ rude to ask a lady her age," Remy replied with no hint of a smile.

He then chuckled as Marie buried her face in her hands.

"Aww chère," he said, "what you think you're doing? Hiding that pretty face of yours away from me?"

Marie lifted her head again. "It wasn't that big a deal. I wasn't planning on drinking tonight."

"I was," he replied with a shrug, and then went on to change the subject.

After a relaxing meal, they headed out to one of the dance clubs. Marie out right refused to grind with him, ("I didn't even do that with my ex, and I'm still friends with him. I'm sure as hell not doing that with you!") which he took with a dose of amusement. She didn't entirely escape having their bodies pressed against each other, however, as Remy made quite certain to hold her close—very close—during each of the slow dances.

Finally they headed out to the car once more.

"So chère," said Remy, "did you want me to drop you off at home, or would you like to come back to my place for awhile?"

Marie hesitated with her hand on the door handle. There was little doubt in her mind what he intended, and she appreciated him giving her an out. After Sunday night, she actually didn't mind the making out itself; she enjoyed the physical contact and as she told Jackie, he was rather good. But she still felt uncomfortable (and a little guilty about enjoying) making out with her friend's married father. Strangely enough, the distinct lack of this since Monday—knowing that Remy had every intention of kissing and touching her up at the picnic—was starting to make Marie wonder if maybe she wasn't experienced enough for his tastes or something.

"Uhh, sure," she said finally, deciding she wanted to keep her end of the bargain. "I could come around for awhile."

"Bon."

Marie fidgeted all the way to Remy's place and very little was said between them. Eventually Remy drove up the driveway and hit the button for the automatic doors on the double garage. One lifted up and Remy drove in.

While the door closed behind them and they got out of the car, Marie happened to look at what was stored on the other side of the garage.

"What do you need three motorcycles for?" she asked.

"The Harley's for long distance, the Yamaha is for city driving, and the Ducati's just for fun," Remy replied, then grinned and added: "And the convertible is for the femmes."

Marie laughed and followed him inside. Remy put his coat up on the coat rack by the door and Marie made her way to the lounge. Remy sat down right next to her, leaving no gap between them. For a moment he just looking at her, holding her gaze, and then one hand slid around her waist while the other caressed her cheek. He leaned in and kissed her. He was pleased to find that Marie was quick to wrap her arms around him in turn and she kissed back with none of the hesitance of Sunday night.

His hand slid down from her cheek, over her shoulder and arm, down to her hip and finally over her leg to her knee, which was poking out from the slit in Marie's skirt, and guided it up over his lap. Once he had her leg right where he wanted it, he caressed every bare inch of her skin from ankle to mid thigh. He was also mildly amused that, as far as the kissing went, Marie was attempting to emulate what he did with his tongue. Even though she didn't really have the hang of it (that would come with practice), he appreciated that she was trying.

Still he wasn't beneath taking advantage of her concentration to slowly guide her backwards until she was lying down on the lounge. Instead of being on his lap, the leg he'd adopted was now around his legs and he slid his hand down under her skirt along her upper, outer thigh. He almost laughed when Marie promptly removed his hand and firmly replaced it above her skirt. He pulled away from kissing her to grin.

"Worth a try," he said mischievously.

"You won't think so if you do it a second time," Marie warned him with a glare.

This time Remy did laugh, and then moved on to kissing her neck.

How long this went on for neither could say, but eventually they stopped and realised the time.

"It's a little late," said Remy. "Did you want a lift home, or would you like to stay here the night? Even Jackie would be asleep by now, and she's a night owl."

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Marie replied dryly. "On the one hand, there is some appeal to waking her up in the middle of the night. On the other hand, I'm not sure she's someone I want mad at me. Even forgetting she's an assassin, she can be quite vindictive."

"Heh, yeah," Remy said, nodding in agreement. "She gets it off her mère."

"Sure," Marie said with a smirk. "There's no way she could have gotten vengeful desires off her father."

"That's right."

"After all, it's not like he's capable of holding a grudge at all."

"Who? Me?"

Marie snickered and shook her head. "Well, look, it's Saturday tomorrow—well, now actually—so I don't have any classes. You're the one who has to drive, so I'll leave it up to you."

Remy smiled. "Oh goody, I get to keep you overnight."

"Just as long as we have separate beds," Marie added quickly.

"Aww," Remy said, giving her a pout. "But there's nothing I like more than waking up in the morning with a belle femme lying next to me."

"I don't recall 'sharing the bed' being on the list of practice requirements for this picnic," Marie replied dryly. "And even if you weren't married, Remy, I still wouldn't share the bed with a guy I'd only really known what? A week? A girl's gotta have some standards."

Remy laughed.

"Alright, chère," he said. "I'm sure Jackie won't mind if you use her bed, especially given that it's the only other one in the house."

"Ha! She'll probably actually be happy about that," Marie said with a laugh. "You know she really hates this whole arrangement."

Remy shrugged. "She should have known better; no discounts and no IOUs, so that means service when there's no cash, or no sale."

Marie wasn't sure what to say to that, so she said nothing. Remy stood up and held his hand out to Marie. Marie took it and got off the lounge.

"This way," Remy said, leading her up the stairs to the bedrooms. "Bathroom is just in there if you need it."

Marie nodded at the indicated door.

"And this is Jackie's room," he went on, opening up the door. "I'm sure she'll have something in there you can sleep in. Or you can sleep naked. I kind of like the visual, actually."

Marie pulled a face.

"I'd rather you didn't, thank you," Marie said. "And I think I'd feel weird sleeping naked in Jackie's bed. There's all sorts of connotations..."

Remy chuckled. "I guess there is. Alright, you have a good night's sleep, chérie, and I'll meet you downstairs for breakfast in the morning. Oh, there should be a clean towel in the bathroom if you decide to have a shower."

"Thanks."

"You sure you don't want to sleep in my bed with me?" Remy asked hopefully.

"Good night, Remy," Marie replied.

Remy gave a dramatic sigh, but smiled at her.

"Bon nuit chère," he said and gave her a final kiss before walking off to his own room.

* * *

><p>They both slept in rather late the next morning. Remy woke up when he heard the shower going and at first he couldn't figure out who on earth it would be until he remembered Marie had stayed over. At that point he was out of bed in a flash, had a quick shower of his own, dressed and hurried downstairs to the kitchen to get breakfast ready.<p>

He didn't beat Marie downstairs, however, and he found her waiting on the lounge, wearing her clothes from the night before. A part of him wished he could have found Marie in a nightgown or something, but upon reflection realised that she would have had to borrow one of Jackie's nightgowns and the idea of seeing a woman he was sexually attracted to wearing his daughter's clothing was a rather large turn-off.

"Morning, chérie," Remy said. "I hope you slept well."

"I did, thank you," Marie replied, standing up. "And yourself?"

He shrugged. "Okay, I guess. Even though I was alone... all alone."

"Oh get off it."

Remy chuckled and continued towards the kitchen with Marie close behind.

"I've got some beignets for breakfast," Remy told her. "Fruit too."

"You actually eat fruit?" Marie asked, a little surprised.

"What? You don't get to look as good as me if you don't eat healthy," he replied loftily, "especially if you miss out on my sexy genes."

Marie groaned and Remy grinned. What he wasn't telling her is that what he usually had for breakfast when he didn't have company over was coffee and a cigarette. Fruit was for later in the day.

"So, how do you like your coffee?" he asked when they reached the kitchen.

"Yeah," said Marie, sitting up on the stool and watching Remy get everything out, "I like a little coffee with my milk and sugar."

Remy laughed. Soon enough there was a couple of mugs of coffee, two plates of beignets and a bowl of fruit sitting between them.

"So chère," he said. "What did you want to do today?"

"Go home," Marie replied with a slight smile. "Change clothes."

"Because I was thinking—"

"Did it hurt?"

"—that we could do this morning what I was planning on doing with you tonight," he said, giving her a smirk. "And no, it didn't."

Marie chuckled.

"What were we going to do tonight?" she asked after a sip of her coffee.

"Poker," Remy replied. "I figured we could play a few games here."

Marie nodded. "All right."

"Normally I play strip with my mistresses..."

"Good for me I'm not really your mistress."

"Worth a try."

Marie shook her head and picked up one of her beignets. "Everything's worth a try with you, isn't it?"

"But of course, chérie," Remy replied. "If you don't try, it's automatically a 'no'."

"You didn't honestly think I'd agree to that, did you?" Marie asked.

"You could have surprised me."

The conversation drifted off as they concentrated on their breakfast. When they were done eating, Remy quickly cleaned up and Marie followed suit in washing her hands. He then went over to his little round dining table, and—much to Marie's surprise—lifted the top off to reveal a poker table.

"Cool," she said.

"Merci," he replied and gestured to one of the dining chairs. "Have a seat."

Remy put the table top down, and then pulled out the cards and sat down as well. His eyes took on a faint, red glow and the cards began to float in the air and shuffle themselves.

"You're telekinetic too?" Marie asked before Remy could get a word out.

"Well, maybe," Remy replied with a shrug. "It's pretty low-level if it is. Only works on small stuff and I have to touch it first, so it's pretty useless for anything other than card shuffling. Used to get away with making the cards fly around during games all the time until people started freaking out about mutants."

"Huh," Marie said thoughtfully, but before she could go on to pursue the subject of his powers, Remy continued:

"Now we won't worry too much about the betting right now," he said as he dealt two cards to each of them. "They can change a bit depending on where you're playing and who you're playing with. This version of poker is called Texas Hold 'em. These are your hole cards. You keep 'em face down and you just lift the corner when you want to see what they are."

Marie had a look and found she had the Ten and Two of Hearts.

"Normally you'd decide whether it was worth staying in the game or not... Which it is 'cause there's no betting going on, so hey, not losing anything," Remy said with a grin and then dealt three cards. "Now these three cards are called the Flop."

Marie listened intently as Remy talked her through a game of poker, and even managed to locate a list of the hands for her to look at while they played a few rounds. Marie couldn't see herself playing poker all that often, though. Eventually they had enough of the game and packed up.

"So chère," Remy said, moving his chair back from the table and patting his lap. "Why don't you come sit over here?"

"Are you going to make me sit on your lap at the picnic?" Marie asked.

"It was possible before," Remy replied with a grin. "It's a definite now."

"Oh, fine."

"Don't sound so put out," he said as Marie got up out of her own chair and made her way over.

"Why not? It's fun," she asked, sitting down on his lap and wrapping one arm around his neck and shoulder to steady herself.

"Anyone would think you didn't like me, and I was making you do this," he said.

There was a note of amusement in his voice, but a flicker of something in his eyes that Marie couldn't quite interpret. Marie lifted her head and flicked a lock of his hair out of his face.

"I have to admit," she said, "none of this was what I expected. _You're_ not what I expected, and believe me after our first meeting I had pretty low standards."

He smiled and his hand traced over her legs and lower back.

"How so?" he asked, although he had a pretty good idea.

"Well for one thing, I didn't expect to spend more time getting to know you than...fooling around. Not that I'm complaining, mind you," she added quickly. "It's been nice getting to know you as a person."

"I figured if I was going to get you to play being my mistress, I should probably start by treating you the way I treat all my girlfriends," Remy replied. "It's not all about sex, you know. It's about having a relationship—a meaningful one."

"So why don't you try having one of those with your wife?" The words were out of Marie's mouth before she could stop them, and a part of her didn't really want to.

"I did!" Remy insisted. "I tried to fix things on multiple occasions but..."

Remy closed his eyes and sighed. Marie just looked at him in patient silence.

"Belle got a little paranoid when she was pregnant with Jackie," he said finally. "Now, I'll admit that prior to getting abducted I...got around a bit. So based on that part of our history I might concede that her fear wasn't entirely unwarranted. But after I escaped? I wanted to get married. I wanted that stability and I did love Belle. Maybe it wasn't fairy-tale true love, hearts flying everywhere kind of thing, but hey when you spend deux years being... The point is, spending the rest of my life with Belle seemed like the best idea."

Marie smiled.

"She was still paranoid even after Jackie was born though," Remy went on, "and in hindsight, I don't think I really handled it very well. Then one day I walked in on her and one of the other Assassins, and well, that was the beginning of the end, really. I deliberately went out and cheated on her the same day."

"Wow, you work fast," Marie said.

"Wasn't that hard," Remy replied with a shrug. "I got piss-drunk and hired a couple of whores."

"Oh."

"You know, the whores in a good brothel are actually safer and better to sleep with than picking up random strangers in a bar," he said conversationally. "They _have_ to be clean in order to work, and they have a lot of experience."

"I'm not sure I really want to know the cons and pros of hiring prostitutes," Marie said, looking away uncomfortably.

Remy chuckled.

"Anyway," he said, "after that point it was pretty much over. I did make a couple of attempts to fix things, and I think Belle might have had a stab at it once or twice too, but we'd hurt each other way too much by then, and now that's all our marriage is: hurting each other. So, I look for women elsewhere, to get from them what I can't get from my wife."

There was silence for a moment and then:

"Pretty pathetic, huh?" Remy said dryly.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel sorry for you," Marie replied. "But you still contributed so, I don't feel _that_ sorry for you."

"All right, so how about this one?" Remy asked. "If I wasn't married, would you go out with me?"

Remy had been expecting some hesitation out of her, and was a little hurt and disappointed when Marie answered straight away with a flat out "no."

"Aww," he said playfully. "Why not?"

"Because you're Jackie's _father_," Marie replied. "Dating my friend's dad? That's just wrong."

Remy laughed.

* * *

><p>Jackie eyed Marie warily when she finally saw her again hours later.<p>

"When did you get back?" Jackie asked.

"About an hour ago," Marie replied, looking up from her bed where she'd been reading.

Still eyeing her warily: "Do I want to know?"

"We lost track of time last night," Marie said with a grin and a twinkle of mischief in her eye.

Jackie muttered something in French that Marie didn't quite catch.

"So I slept in your room overnight," Marie went on. "I hope you don't mind."

Jackie stared at her.

"Mind? Mind?" Jackie repeated. "You could have slept naked in my bed for all I care, as long as you didn't sleep with Papa!"

Marie burst out laughing.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

On Sunday night, Remy had evidentially decided that a practice picnic was in order, for he arranged to have one out in one of the parks near his home. When they were done with their meal, they laid down and did some star gazing for awhile.

On Monday night, Remy picked Marie up on his Yamaha motorcycle and they went joyriding. There was a stop in the middle to have dinner, but otherwise all they did was ride.

Remy had plans on Tuesday night, so they didn't see each other. On Wednesday, Marie has her night class and on Thursday, she took the night off to study.

Jackie dropped Marie off at Remy's place on Friday night, and informed both of them that she would be back to pick Marie up again at a certain hour and they had better not "lose track of time" like they did the week before. She delivered this line with a dire glare at her father, as if she suspected him of deliberately losing track of time. Once Jackie departed, Remy and Marie settled on the lounge with drinks, a bowl of freshly made popcorn, and _Terminator 2_.

"So chérie," Remy said as the movie came to an end, "I'd say it's about time for your exam."

"Exam?" Marie repeated, a little confused. "No, I don't have any exams until—"

Remy cupped her face in his hands, kissing her soundly and cutting off her speech.

"No exam?" Remy said when he pulled away with a gleam in his eye. "When we have the picnic tomorrow?"

"You're so pathetic," Marie informed him.

Remy chuckled and lowered her backwards so she was lying on the lounge.

"Have to make sure you've practised enough," he said in a low tone by her ear, before kissing her neck.

"What happens if I don't pass?" Marie asked sarcastically. "You gonna keep me here all night?"

"Don't give me ideas."

"I'm quite sure you already had them."

There were no more chances for talk then, as Remy found Marie's lips again. He was lying half next to her, half on top of her on the lounge, with one hand supporting his weight while the other ran over her waist, stomach, hip and leg. Marie's hands generally stayed around his neck, upper back and arms, but there was the odd occasion where she was a little more daring and moved one of her hands to his chest. Marie would only ever admit in the privacy of her own mind that the fact that Remy had a very nice body was one of the perks of this arrangement.

Remy adjusted himself slightly as he lifted his head. He brought up his roaming hand to touch her face, caress her cheek, and then turn her head slightly so he could kiss the other side of her neck. Marie let him and, because it was in range, kissed his supporting arm.

His roaming hand started drifting down her body again, but not very far: it stopped, landing quite firmly on her breast. Almost immediately, Marie's hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Down boy," she said, pulling his hand off her.

Remy paused and lifted his head to look at her.

"Did you just say 'down boy'?" he asked her, an amused smile on his lips.

"You heard me," Marie replied with dignity.

"Say it again," he said playfully.

"No."

"Aww," Remy said and moved his hand back to the forbidden territory as he asked: "What if I do this again?"

"Remove your hand _at once_," Marie said, at the same time beating his hand away.

"Aww, but I wanted to hear you say 'down boy' again."

"Why?"

"It's cute."

"Yeah, well, I'm not going to reward bad behaviour."

"But that's the only way I know how to behave," Remy replied and then grinned at her. "So, does this mean you'll punish me instead?"

"Sure," Marie replied sweetly.

The grin on Remy's face started to fade as he felt Marie's knee lift up between his legs and dangerously close to his crotch.

"We seemed to have reached an impasse," Remy said.

"No we haven't," Marie replied. "You don't touch my boobs, and I don't hurt your goods."

Remy have a melodramatic sigh. "Fine, I'll just have to find some other boobs that will appreciate my...handiwork."

Marie groaned at the bad joke, and after a chuckle, Remy went back to kissing her.

* * *

><p>Sometime later, Jackie knocked on the door of Remy's house. She could have just let herself in, but she really didn't want to walk in on her father and her room mate doing anything above a G rating. When she didn't get a response straight away, she knocked again and kept knocking until Remy finally opened the door. Jackie wasn't really all that happy to see his shirt in disarray, but at least his fly was done up.<p>

"Ready to go, Marie?" Jackie called, keeping her eyes on her father.

"Just a sec..." Marie called back.

"What?" Remy asked Jackie. "No 'hi, how you doing' for your Papa?"

"Nope," Jackie replied. "I really don't want to know how you're doing right now."

"You wound me, Sunshine."

"Hey Jackie," said Marie, appearing in the doorway and interrupted before Jackie could reply. "I'm good to go."

Jackie reluctantly looked at Marie. Her hair was a little messed up, but at least her clothes were straight.

"Good," Jackie said.

"I'll see you two tomorrow then," Remy said, stepping away from the door so that Marie could pass. "I'll pick you two up at eleven-thirty."

"You know, I could just drive Marie and I there," Jackie pointed out.

"But it wouldn't be right for Marie and I to arrive separately," said Remy.

"Marie's honest, Papa, unlike us," Jackie pointed out. "I'm sure she wouldn't renege on the deal."

"That's not the point," Remy replied. "Besides, even if she did renege on the deal, I'm sure Marie knows I would come after her boobs—"

"Not hearing this!" Jackie declared, clamping her hands over her ears as Marie glared at Remy.

"—in retaliation."

"Come on, Jackie," Marie said, tugging on Jackie's arm. "We should go."

"Yeah," Jackie said, lowering her hands and glaring distrustfully at Remy. "The sooner we go home, the sooner this night will be over. The sooner tonight is over, the sooner the picnic tomorrow will be, and we can all get past this horrible nightmare."

Remy chuckled.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said.

* * *

><p>At eleven-thirty the following morning, Remy met Jackie and Marie out the front of their dormitory. The women climbed into the back seat (Jackie literally), and Remy took off to the park where they were planning on having their picnic.<p>

"So umm," Marie said tentatively, "I have to ask, why are you guys celebrating at the park anyway? I mean, maybe I'm buying into stereotypes or something, but I just can't picture a whole guild full of thieves and assassins getting together in the middle of a bright, sunny day to have a family picnic."

"Why not?" asked Jackie. "We have families too."

"Actually Belle and I take turns picking the destination every year," Remy said. "Last year I made everyone go plaster painting."

Marie laughed.

"Yeah, Papa always picks fun ones," said Jackie. "Remember the year we played Laser Tag?"

"There is nothing more hilarious than watching a bunch of trained assassins use laser tag guns," Remy said gleefully, "and hearing them complain that 'if this was a real raid, you'd all be dead by now'."

"We should go paint-balling next year," Jackie said.

"Nah," Remy replied. "You can actually hurt people with those things. The whole point of Laser Tag was to give them a gun they couldn't hurt anyone with. Also, your Oncle Julien can't play."

"That's true. Do we know if he's showing up this year?"

"Assume oui."

"Argh," Jackie said and then looked at Marie. "Don't worry, we shall avoid him. Oncle Julien's a bastard."

"He won't be able to see you anyway," Remy said, only half joking.

The idle chatter continued until they reached the park. Remy found a place to park the car and the three piled out.

"That looks like everyone over there," Jackie said, pointing to a rather crowded corner of the park.

"Oui," Remy agreed and then wrapped his arm around Marie's waist, hauling her to him. "Time to get this show on the road, hein?"

Jackie groaned and muttered something about how this was going to be the most embarrassing day of her life.

"But, we just got off the road," Marie replied ingeniously, batting her eyes at Remy.

Remy laughed. Marie grinned at him and rested her hand on his shoulder. Jackie raced off ahead, determined to get some distance between them before the worst happened. As Remy and Marie closed the distance to the group, Marie started to feel more and more nervous. Sure, all the people ahead looked like an ordinary bunch, dressed in normal, every day clothes with kids running around. But their choice of occupation aside, these were the people she had to trick into thinking she was having an affair with a married man. And amongst them were his wife and daughter. Her heart started beating so loudly, Marie was sure everyone could hear it.

A man with a bald head and a brown moustache was the first one to spot them. He looked at Remy, then at Marie, then back at Remy and shook his head. Remy grinned at him.

"Bonjour Henri," he said, stopping with Marie in front of him.

A blonde woman nearby looked at them and frowned.

"Marie," Remy said, looking at her and then gesturing to each one in turn, "this is mon frère, Henri and his wife Mercy."

"Nice to meet you," Marie replied, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt.

"Henri, Mercy," Remy went on, "this is Marie, Jackie's room mate at college."

Mercy buried her face in her hands while Henri nodded.

"That explains it," said Henri.

"Explains what?" asked Remy.

"Why Jackie is currently hiding being Louis," Henri said, nodding in the direction of his son.

"Huh," said Remy, peering over. "I guess she wasn't joking when she said this was the most embarrassing day of her life. Oh well, I'll make it up to her later."

"Make it up to her now," Mercy said, lifting her head, "and go grill something."

Remy chuckled, then disentangled himself from Marie and kissed her lips.

"Why don't you go join Jackie for now, chère?" he said. "I have to go make myself useful."

"Ought to be a novel experience for you, then," Marie replied.

He laughed and Marie weaved through the crowd towards Jackie. Remy started to make his way to the grill when Mercy stopped him.

"I can't believe you, Remy," she said. "I really can't."

"You're only just figuring that out now, chère?" Remy asked. "And here I thought you knew me."

Jackie spotted Marie's arrival quickly enough.

"You escaped," Jackie said with a grin.

"Yeah, your dad got told to go grill stuff," Marie replied.

"Yay! Oh, Marie," Jackie said, gesturing to the sandy-haired man with the goatee next to her, "this is mon cousin, Louis. Lou this—"

"Don't call me that," said Louis, pulling a face.

"Lou," Jackie said again, "this is Marie."

"Bonjour," Louis said, taking the liberty of kissing Marie's hand.

Jackie rolled her eyes.

"Nice to meet you," Marie replied.

"And what bring you here?" Louis asked. "Has Jackie gone lesbian on us after all?"

"No, but I am planning on cracking onto your boyfriend," Jackie retorted coolly.

"He's got better taste."

"So you admit you have one."

"No I... Screw you."

"Nu-uh, that's called incest, douche-bag," Jackie retorted and then looked at Marie. "Don't mind him, he's an imbecile."

"And she's a whore," Louis told Marie, "just like her mère."

"Get your facts straight, dipstick," Jackie replied loftily. "_Both_ my parents are sluts."

"I guess that means you got a double dose of the slut-gene then," Louis said.

"Nah, it skips a generation."

Marie giggled.

"Actually," said Marie, "I'm kinda here with Remy."

Louis froze. "Oncle Remy?"

"Oui!" Jackie said, suddenly finding the silver lining in this mess. "See, Marie, this is why Lou is gay—"

"I am not!" Louis objected, glaring at her. "And stop calling me Lou."

"—because even the filles his age would rather sleep with mon père than with him," Jackie finished smugly.

"Well, your dad is pretty hot," Marie said mischievously, "and the things he can do with his—"

"Oh look," Jackie interrupted. "There's Oncle Julien!"

Despite herself, Marie found herself looking in the indicated direction. Julien had very short blond hair, and a black patch fitted neatly over each eye. He, like most of the others at the picnic, was obviously fit.

"Want me to introduce ya?" asked Jackie, leaning into her. "I'm sure he'd love to show you his eye sockets."

"Uhh, no thanks," Marie replied. "I'll pass."

"Man, I hate that guy," Louis muttered.

"Consider yourself lucky you never had to train with him," Jackie replied with a flick of her hair.

"That was never even an option," said Louis, shaking his head. "Maman was convinced he'd kill me given the opportunity, united Guilds or not."

"Sometimes I think he wants to kill me," Jackie said. "Usually when I remind him of Papa."

"If he could actually see you, I think you would be dead."

"Well, it's hard to say on that point, 'cause I _know_ he wants to kill Papa," Jackie replied musingly, "but he hasn't. I think that leash Maman's got him on is all that's staying his hand, honestly."

"I think we'd all be better off if he really was on a leash."

"So," Marie piped up, "all this casual talk about killing's starting to make me nervous..."

Jackie laughed and Louis snickered.

"We have got to get you some backbone, fille," said Jackie.

"I've got plenty of backbone," Marie replied. "It's just that the last time someone tried to kill me, they almost succeeded."

"I like that clarification there," said Jackie, grinning broadly. "They _almost_ succeeded. Just in case we weren't sure."

"Yeah, actually they totally succeeded and you're really talking to my ghost." Marie nodded.

Jackie laughed.

"Come on, chère," she said. "Let me introduce you to people who are, you know, actually my friends."

"Okay," Marie replied good-naturedly. "Nice meeting you, Louis."

"And you," Louis replied with a nod of his head.

Jackie kept Marie on her feet, walking from one group to another. In some ways, it was reminiscent of how Jackie behaved during parties at college too. Most of the time, Marie could even forget that she was surrounded by murderers and thieves; everyone looked and sounded just like ordinary people. Then someone would say or do something that would remind her.

The other notable difference—more of an aesthetic thing—was that Jackie didn't bother hiding her eyes. Usually at college she would hide them behind an illusion or a pair of dark sunglasses. Here she made no attempt, and Marie wondered about that. Was it just because these were her friends and family? Was it simply that she didn't want to broadcast her mutation to people she didn't know? Or was there some other reason? Marie had very little doubt that the only reason why Jackie even told her was because she honestly knew she wouldn't be able to hide them from her room mate all the time. It did make Marie wonder just how Jackie would have dealt with it if she hadn't been able to handle it. Then Marie decided she didn't want to follow that particular train of thought.

Eventually, Remy got excused from cooking duties, filled up his plate and sat down at the picnic blanket for the Boudreaux-LeBeau family. Mercy and Henri were sitting on a blanket nearby. Louis was elsewhere, as was Julien (Remy was somewhat happy about the latter). Not long after he sat down, he was joined by Bella Donna and her latest fling; a tall, black-haired man with a football player build.

"Oh Remy," Bella Donna said as she sat down between him and her partner. "I almost didn't see you there. I didn't recognise you without some bimbo attached."

"Well, I would expect it would be hard for you to see past that big lug of yours," Remy replied evenly.

"That's true. Why would I ever want to look at anyone else?"

"You might want to know what your daughter's up to occasionally."

"Hmm, yes, speaking of Jacqueline," Bella Donna said, lifting her head and looking around, "where is she? I saw her earlier with some fille with a white streak."

"Ahh, oui, that's Jackie's room mate from college," Remy said, then looked at Bella Donna's partner. "So, does beef here have a name?"

"Kevin," he replied.

"Remy."

"Yeah, I know."

Bella Donna smiled, and then turned her head to give Kevin a kiss. Remy pretended like he didn't care, but the truth was that even after all this time it still hurt to see Bella Donna with other men. He might not have been in love with her any more, but she would still be his first love. She would always have a place in his heart, too, as much as he wished otherwise.

It was as Bella Donna pulled away from kissing Kevin that she finally spotted Jackie and Marie walking towards them, each with a plate in one hand and a plastic cup in the other.

"There she is," said Bella Donna and Remy lifted his head to see.

"There you filles are," said Remy. "We were wondering."

"We were just doing the rounds," Jackie said cheerfully as they walked around to the gap by Remy. "Everyone, this is Marie."

"And this is Kevin," Bella Donna told Jackie, gesturing to her partner. "Kevin-cher, this is my daughter, Jacqueline."

"Pleasure," Kevin said with a nod.

"Likewise I'm sure," Jackie replied as she sat down on the blanket, leaving enough space for Marie to sit in between her and Remy.

The seating arrangement that didn't go unnoticed by Bella Donna, but before she could comment, Remy took away all doubt by capturing Marie's chin in his fingers and kissing her sweetly.

"So Maman," Jackie said, determined to ignore the obscenity going on next to her, "how has your day been?"

"Fine," Bella Donna replied tersely, unable to tear her eyes away from her _husband_ kissing that slip of a girl.

"Great," said Jackie. "My day has turned out slightly better than I expected, but not by much."

Marie knew she was blushing lightly as Remy pulled away from the kiss. She couldn't quite bring herself to look at Bella Donna.

"And how have you been enjoying yourself so far, ma chérie?" Remy asked, stoking her cheek softly.

"Good, thanks," Marie replied, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "Everyone's been real kind."

"That's because they know a goddess when they see one."

Marie felt her face go hot and Bella Donna made a rude noise.

"Don't believe a word that comes out of his mouth, petite," Bella Donna said. "He's a lying, filthy, disgusting little toad."

"And you would know all about lying, filthy, disgusting little toads, wouldn't you?" Remy replied, not even bothering to grace Bella Donna with a look.

"Oui, I married one."

"So did I."

"Oh good," said Jackie. "You deserve each other. Let's move on, shall we?"

"So," said Kevin, who seemed to realised that if a change of subject was required, the Boudreaux-LeBeau's couldn't be trusted with it, "what are you girls studying at college?"

"I'm computer science and Marie's engineering," Jackie replied quickly, having no intention of telling a complete stranger who knew she was involved with the United Guilds that she was doing a second major in Criminal Justice as well.

"Are you a freshman too?" Bella Donna asked Marie.

"Yeah," Marie replied, her throat feeling rather dry.

Remy caught the expression on Kevin's face and got the impression that the other man didn't know whether he should be disgusted or jealous.

"Remy," Bella Donna said, practically grinding her teeth.

"Oui, chère?" Remy replied smugly.

"Don't you think she's a little young for you? You're old enough to be her father."

"The thought did cross my mind," Remy said slyly. "Briefly. Very briefly."

"It never occurred to you to find someone your own age?" she demanded.

"I have been, chère," Remy replied, smirking broadly. "What can I say? I need someone who can keep up with me."

Marie looked down at her plate and picked up her slice of bread. She knew her face was bright red.

"And I'm sure you don't mind giving her plenty of _experience_," Bella Donna said, looking about ready to impale Remy with the nearest object.

"That's the best part."

"I guess we should all be grateful she's wearing pants!"

"Ooookay!" Jackie cut in, holding up her hands. "First, while I have heard the story about Papa screwing one of his mistresses in front of everyone when I was a kid and thankfully too young to remember, I really, really _do not need_ the visual of him doing the same with Marie. Second, if you deux are going to continue to have this conversation, please do it out of my earshot. I'm already regretting ever introducing them."

"Désolé, Sunshine," Remy said sincerely, reaching over to rub her shoulder. "We'll stop."

"Thank you."

The conversation turned to trivialities as they ate.

"All right then," Mercy said to Remy and Bella Donna, "Henri and I are going to get the cake—"

"We are?" asked Henri.

"—you deux might want to pretend you like each other long enough to make a speech."

Remy sighed loudly as Mercy got up. "Do we have to?"

"Stop being such a baby," Bella Donna scolded him. "Did you at least remember your wedding ring today?"

Remy held up his left hand and Marie noticed his ring for the first time. She hadn't seen him wear it before.

"See?" he said. "All shined up for its once-a-year performance. It's a big day for the little fellow."

Bella Donna snorted as Mercy sighed and tugged Henri away to help her with the cake.

"All shined up," Bella Donna repeated. "It's spent more time in its box than on your hand. It hasn't even lost its original shine."

"At least it hasn't become fused with my finger, like yours has," Remy replied with a smirk.

"It's not fused."

"No, but you still can't get it off."

"Shut up."

"I bet there are a few other things you still can't get off—"

"Papa!" Jackie exclaimed.

"I'll behave, I'll behave," Remy said.

"That'll be a first," Bella Donna said snidely.

"Ugh, sometimes I think I'm the parent," Jackie muttered.

Marie patted Jackie sympathetically on the back. At about the same time, Mercy and Henri returned with the cake: a large, chocolate one.

"Ready?" Remy asked Bella Donna.

"Oui," she replied resignedly as she stood. "Let's get this over with."

Jackie seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as Remy and Bella Donna made their way over in front of the cake and before the crowd. As the Guild members noticed them, they began to fall silent, and waited.

"Merci, everyone, for joining us today," said Bella Donna, "on the twentieth anniversary of the Uniting of the Guilds."

Marie caught her breath. That meant this was their twentieth wedding anniversary too. And this was the way they carried on?

Remy and Bella Donna went on to thank everyone for their support and their willingness to work together, even though they knew it wasn't easy at times. Marie found it strange after hearing Remy and Bella Donna bicker over lunch, to see them in front of the crowd, holding hands and acting as if there wasn't anything the slightest bit wrong with their marriage. It was obviously all for show, as everyone clearly knew Remy and Bella Donna's relationship was strained, but it didn't make it any less bizarre to watch.

While they were talking, a couple of the others started passing around glasses of champagne (or orange juice for those who qualified as 'under age' by someone's definition thereof, and those who didn't drink). Remy and Bella Donna led everyone into a toast to celebrate the past twenty years and to hope that the next twenty years would be even better. Everyone clapped, and Remy and Bella Donna cut the cake.

While Mercy took over slicing the cake into pieces for everyone, a red headed man in the crowd stood and cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Hey!" called Emil. "Happy Anniversary!"

Jackie giggled despite herself.

"Thanks, Emil," Remy replied wryly.

"You can kiss her now," Emil said, a wide smirk on his face.

Judging from the death glare that Bella Donna was shooting Emil, that was the last thing she wanted to have happen. Judging from the gleeful expression on Emil's, he was a chronic trouble maker. When Remy made no immediate move to kiss his wife, Emil started a chant: "Kiss! Kiss!"

Remy stifled a sigh and then looked at Bella Donna. Bella Donna didn't meet his eyes. Remy shrugged, caught Bella Donna up in his arms, and kissed her while dipping her backwards. Everyone cheered, or alternatively, laughed wickedly.

As soon as it was polite to do so, Remy and Bella Donna escaped the centre of attention. They let go of each other's hands almost immediately and brought cake back for Kevin, Marie and Jackie.

"And that's over for another year," Bella Donna said with relief. "Also, Remy? I'm going to kill Emil."

"You say that all the time," Remy replied with a wave of his hand, "yet he is still walking around, breathing, annoying people."

"One day..."

"You won't do it."

Bella Donna glared at him, then flicked her hair and turned to Kevin.

"I need your help with something, cher," she said. "I need to get rid of the taste of 'husband' in my mouth."

Remy stuffed his face with chocolate cake in an effort to avoid showing Bella Donna just how hurt he was at that remark.

Jackie ignored her mother sucking face with the other guy. It wasn't exactly an unusual sight, seeing her parents kissing people she barely knew (amongst other things). Sometimes she even got to know them better than as just her mother or father's latest fling. She wasn't usually bothered by this, Marie being a notable exception.

Marie, on the other hand, was feeling somewhat disturbed by the pair rubbing their partners in each other's faces. Unfortunately, she was aware that that was the whole point of her being there; to be thrown in Bella Donna's face in a way of saying "I can do way better than you, and also, you're getting old." She hesitated for a moment, and then reached over and pinched a piece of Remy's cake between her fingers.

"Hey," Remy objected as he watched Marie put her fingers in her mouth and suck his cake away.

"Hmm, I was right," she said coyly. "Your cake tastes way better than mine."

Remy stared at her for a moment, taking in the playful, challenging expression on her face.

"I know," he said finally. "And I want it back."

Marie grinned at him. "Come and get it."

Jackie sighed and put her plate down. Dessert was ruined now.

"Okay," Jackie said when the kissing went on just a little _too_ long. "If you haven't gotten your cake back by now, you're not going to."

"You're right," said Remy. "I guess I need to take come of your cake, chère."

Jackie groaned as Remy and Marie continued to be silly with kissing and cake, with Marie practically sitting in his lap. Bella Donna (who had stopped kissing Kevin by now) ignored them. Kevin was looking like he wasn't sure if he should be disgusted or jealous...again.

Then a piece of cake dropped down the front of Marie's shirt. Marie felt Remy's hands start to move up from her hips and saw his eyes focus on her cleavage. Marie stilled his arms by putting her hands on his upper arms. Once she was sure he wasn't going to try anything, she reached inside her shirt, fished out the renegade piece of cake from where it landed in her bra and fed it to Remy. Remy seemed to accept this as suitable compensation for not being allowed to fish it out himself.

"Marie," said Jackie, keeping her eyes away from her (although she could see her father's hands drifting back down to Marie's behind), "come with me to the restroom."

Jackie wasn't normally the type to drag all her girl friends along to the restroom with her (strange behaviour, she thought), but in this case she made an exception. If Marie was with her, Remy couldn't be feeling her up.

"Alright," Marie replied agreeably.

"Don't be long," Remy said.

Jackie grunted in reply, took Marie's arm as she stood, and practically dragged the other girl away.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Remy LeBeau," Bella Donna scolded as soon as Jackie and Marie were out of earshot. "I don't even want to know how or why you've gone and seduced that girl, but you're embarrassing your daughter. Just because you're a constant embarrassment to yourself is no excuse to humiliate Jacqueline."

Remy glared at her, and tried to think of something to say. Sure, Jackie had been upset when he initially asked Marie for sex—and rightly so—but he never imagined she'd be embarrassed by their arrangement.

Meanwhile, Marie checked her appearance in the mirror of the public restroom while Jackie did her business.

"I'm sorry, sugar," she was saying. "I don't mean to upset you—"

"It's not you," Jackie insisted. "It's Papa. He could have asked anyone to join him today, but ohhh nooo, he had to make you come and do all the stupid lovey-dovey crap with him."

Marie kept silent while Jackie complained. If Bella Donna was Remy's ex, not his wife, and the whole thing wasn't upsetting Jackie so much, she would have actually been enjoying herself.

"Well," Marie said finally, once Jackie came out of the cubicle and was washing her hands, "after today, it'll all be over and you won't have to deal with this any more. And I'm sure your dad knows by now how much he's upset you, and he won't do it again."

Jackie sighed. "Yeah. He and Maman are usually pretty good like that. They try to keep me out of the fighting. They're not always successful, by they try. Apparently they had a few screaming matches in front of me when I was really little and it made me cry so... Yeah, I don't remember that, but... You know, when Papa first talked about moving out, they let me decide when."

"Really?" Marie asked.

"Yeah," Jackie replied with a nod. "I hate that they can't get along. I hate it. And I didn't want Papa to move out, but it was awful living with them both, and just... The tension and the...the...poison they were always spewing at each other. Believe it or not, things have actually been better since Papa moved out."

Jackie wiped her hands and closed her eyes. Marie gave her a gentle hug.

"I'm sorry you've had to deal with that," Marie said softly. "I'm sure it can't be easy when the two people you love the most can't stand to be in the same room together."

"No, it's not. It sucks," Jackie said, then sighed again and hugged Marie back. "You know something? I'm sorry I dragged you into all of this, but...I'm really, really glad I did."

Marie laughed. "Why's that?"

"I could never have this conversation with any of my Guild friends," she replied irritably, then she sighed. "I suppose we have to go back."

"Yeah, I don't think we can camp in here forever."

"Pity."

Marie chuckled and the two headed back out again and made their way—slowly—back to the others. As they approached, they could see Remy pointing his finger at Bella Donna, and Bella Donna tight-lipped, then saying something nasty back in return. Kevin noticed the girls returning, coughed and must have said something to tell them that Marie and Jackie were on their way back, as Bella Donna and Remy abruptly stopped talking and turned away from each other.

Nothing was said as Jackie and Marie sat back down. Everything felt too awkward from the fight that no one wanted to acknowledge had happened. Evidentially, the tension was too much for Remy, as he pulled out his packet of cigarettes from his inside pocket. He had one cigarette halfway out of the packet when Marie spoke up:

"If that thing goes anywhere near your mouth, Swamp Rat, I am not kissing you again."

Remy paused. He looked at the cigarette, then at Marie, then back at the cigarette and finally pushed the cigarette back into the packet, and the packet back into his pocket. Bella Donna burst out laughing.

"I do believe I _like_ you, fille," Bella Donna declared.

Marie laughed and even Jackie grinned.

Kevin coughed and said "whipped", then coughed again. Remy glared at him and was about to say something, when once again, Marie piped up:

"Why, however did you know?" she asked guilelessly. "Have you been peeking?"

Kevin gaped in stunned surprise. Remy cracked up. Bella Donna didn't so much as smile, but inwardly she was giggling. Jackie cringed as an image of her naked father with Marie dressed in black leather and standing over him while cracking a whip popped into her head.

"I did not need that visual," Jackie muttered.

"Sorry, sugar," Marie said. "I was only joking."

"That's a bad image," said Jackie. "A really _bad_ image."

"It just annoys me when people cough insults at each other," Marie said, looking at Jackie, but everyone realised she was really talking to Kevin: "I don't understand why, since they're already insulting someone, why they need additional courage in order to be articulate."

Jackie laughed. Kevin spluttered indignantly, and Marie raised her eyebrow at him as if to say "proving my point, huh?"

"Okay well," said Jackie. "I'm going to go do something in...that direction. Lemme know when we're leaving, 'kay?"

"Sure," Remy replied.

"Good." Jackie stood and took off in the indicated direction.

"So chère," Remy said to Marie when Jackie was out of earshot, "since I've been denied my smoke, perhaps you might have another way I can occupy my lips?"

Marie snickered lightly and sat up so she could wrap her arms around him. She was somewhat relieved that Jackie had taken off, knowing how much this bothered her.

"I'm sure I can think of something," she said.

Bella Donna turned to Kevin as Remy and Marie started kissing again.

"I can see why she and Jacqueline get along," Bella Donna said musingly to Kevin, knowing that Remy and Marie could hear her. "Just a pity about her taste in men."

* * *

><p>Remy departed with Marie and Jackie after the bulk of the packing up after the picnic was done. The trip was largely silent, aside from asking each other if they all had a good time. Once they arrived at the dorm, Remy got out of the car to walk them to the main doors.<p>

"Well, Marie," Remy said, "thank you very much for your help today. It was most successful."

Marie gave a half shrug, all too aware of the closing distance between them.

"I'm not too sure that's something I should be proud of under the circumstances," she replied, "but thanks."

Remy smiled, and reached out a hand to touch her face. "It was an absolute pleasure having your company today."

He moved in to kiss her, but Marie pulled her head out of reach.

"I believe our deal is concluded," she said. "Which means, I don't have to kiss you any more."

"Woohoo!" Jackie cheered. "Go Marie."

Remy inclined his head, not quite hiding his disappointment.

"That's true," he said. "Still, I hope we can be friends?"

Marie hesitated briefly.

"I'm sure we can figure something out," she said finally. "It's a little weird, but...you seem like a nice enough guy when you're not pissed off your face."

Remy snickered.

"I swear, I don't usually get that drunk that often," he said.

"Good to know. Well, then, I guess I'll see you around," Marie said as she stepped away, and then glanced at Jackie: "I'll meet you inside."

"Okay," Jackie said.

Jackie and Remy waiting until the door closed behind Marie.

"Sunshine?" Remy said tentatively. "I'm really sorry if I embarrassed you today."

"Marie's my friend, Papa," Jackie replied, not really looking at him. "And you treated her like one of your mistresses, and used her to hurt Maman."

"I like to think I treat my mistresses like gold," Remy said. "And, you're right, I _did_ use her to hurt your mère, but I _didn't_ want to hurt _you_. Had I realised that today would hurt you so much I... Well, I can't say for sure I wouldn't have still used her to hurt your mère, but I sure wouldn't have done it in front of you."

"That doesn't make me feel any better."

"If you wanted me to make you feel better, you should have said so," Remy replied wryly. "I would have come up with a really good lie."

Jackie giggled despite herself. Remy smiled and gave her a hug.

"I promise I won't try to seduce any more of your friends," he said.

"Any _more_?" Jackie queried, looking up at him suspiciously.

"I make no promises about not flirting with Marie again in the future," he clarified.

"She not interested, Papa," Jackie told him.

"I know," Remy replied. "But she's fun to flirt with."

Jackie shook her head. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, Sunshine. Have a good afternoon," Remy replied as Jackie made her way to the door.

"I will, you too," she answered with a backwards wave.

Remy waited until Jackie was inside and then headed back to the car. He pulled out that cigarette he wanted earlier and lit it by touching the tip with his finger and charging it up lightly with kinetic energy. Finally he started the car and began driving off.

Sooner or later the Cure would wear off, and Marie was a smart girl; she would realise that if the Cure wore off once, it could wear off a second time. The question was, what would she do when the time came? Would she allow her powers to come back? Or would she come knocking on his door?

Remy blew out a mouthful of smoke and rested his hand with his cigarette on the edge of the door, jolting the ash over the side. He hoped she'd come knocking.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Marie stepped through the doorway of one of the club rooms at the college, and her eyes fell on one particular individual at the centre of attention:

"Brett!" she exclaimed.

"Hey Marie," Brett replied with a grin.

Marie hugged him tightly.

"Hey, you're okay," she said. "When did you wake up?"

"Two days ago," he said and pulled a face. "They _finally_ let me out. Still don't know what caused it but..."

Brett shrugged and Marie nodded. She wanted to tell him the truth about what happened, but then she would also have to tell him about getting the Cure—or lying and telling him she had her powers under control, and that the other night had just been an accident. Jackie had asked her not to tell anyone about her connection with the black market, and Marie didn't like the idea of outright lying about having control of her abilities, so she decided to stay silent. She should have said something long before now, but she didn't, and since keeping her mouth shut had been a decision in its own right, she was stuck with it.

"Hey, I was told you came and visited me in hospital," Brett said.

"Oh, well, least I could do," Marie replied awkwardly.

"Well, I wish I could say I remember the visits but...thanks for the thought anyway."

"You're welcome."

"Hey Marie," said Toby. "We've all decided to throw Brett a 'welcome back from the dead' party tonight. You free? Or you going out with that guy you've been seeing for the last two weeks?"

Marie froze, but she wasn't entirely sure what she was more concerned about; that they were calling it a 'welcome back _from the dead_' party, or that they'd noticed her multiple nights out. Although Jackie had driven her, Remy had also picked her up from the dorm—evidentially often enough for people to take note.

"Uhh, no I'm free tonight," Marie said.

"Oh, you're seeing someone now?" Brett asked.

"No!" Marie exclaimed the same time Toby said "Yep."

Toby looked at Marie with a smirk. "Yeah right."

"I'm not," Marie insisted.

"So, who's been picking you up in the red convertible?" Toby asked.

"He, umm," Marie stammered uncertainly.

"Watch as the female tries to come up with an appropriate lie," Toby said in his David Attenborough impersonation. "She hasn't counted on her secret liaison being found out this soon and had failed in coming up with good story in advance."

Marie glared at him. "I am not dating him! He's married!"

"Ahh, this is why she needs a lie," said Toby, grinning. "Doesn't want everyone to know she's a housebreaker."

"I'm not a—" Marie began when she was interrupted by Jackie's arrival.

"Hey Brett," Jackie greeted cheerfully. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

"Ha, thanks," Brett replied.

"Funny you should say that," said Toby. "We're having a 'welcome back from the dead' party tonight. Coming?"

"Possibly. Will this coming back from the dead party involve zombie costumes at all?"

"Well, it is short notice, so costumes are optional."

"Alright, I'm in then," said Jackie, rubbing her hands together.

"By the way," Toby said mischievously. "Perhaps you'd like to shed some light on this mystery man Marie's been seeing?"

"Who she isn't having an affair with 'cause he's married," Brett added. "And apparently drives a red convertible."

Toby chuckled.

"Him?" Jackie asked, then nudged Marie. "Oh chère, it's nothing to be ashamed about."

"It's not?" Marie asked, giving Jackie a confused look.

"It's mon père," Jackie said. "He's an artist. He was taken with Marie's appearance and asked if he could paint her."

"Nude?" asked Toby.

"Hell no!" Marie objected.

"Yeah... If Papa wanted to paint Marie naked," Jackie said dryly, "we would not be having this conversation, because Marie wouldn't have accepted."

"Damn straight," Marie said.

"So, do we get to see it?" asked Brett.

"Ha!" Jackie scoffed. "Marie'll be lucky if _she_ gets to see it."

"So, why didn't you just tell us?" Toby asked Marie.

"Umm, my room mate's father told me I was gorgeous and asked if he could paint me," Marie replied. "Why do you think I didn't tell you?"

"Yeah, especially after you asked her if he painted her nude, geez," Jackie said disgustedly. "Sicko."

* * *

><p>"You came up with that story pretty fast," Marie said to Jackie much later that day, when they were in their dorm getting ready for the party.<p>

"I can't believe you didn't have one already," Jackie replied as she went through her wardrobe. "I came up with that the same day you told me about the deal."

"Oh, really?"

"Uh huh. I can't believe you didn't have a cover story prepared," Jackie said disgustedly. "That's just sloppy."

"I didn't realise I was going to need one," Marie replied while she pulled on her boots. "It was only for a couple of weeks."

"Always assume you're going to need a cover story," Jackie advised her, pulling out the shirt she finally decided on. "It's better to have one and not need it, than to not have one, and end up fumbling for an answer when you do."

"So I noticed," Marie replied dryly.

Jackie grinned at her.

"And did you notice how simple it was?" she asked. "He really is mon père, so there's no lie to catch us out later. You're certainly attractive enough that I think all the guys would agree that any artist would want to paint you—"

"Thanks," Marie said with a slight smirk.

"And of course, they're also juvenile enough that a nude painting would be the first thing to come to mind, which would explain your reluctance to talk about it," Jackie went on gleefully. "It would also explain the short association _and_ everyone knows that artists are very critical of their own work, so it's believable, if disappointing, that no one would ever see the painting."

"You really thought this through, huh?"

"The trick is to keep it simple," Jackie answered with a nod, considered, and then added: "Which is also the answer to my dilemma."

"What dilemma?" Marie asked.

"Well, I was contemplating making my eyes look pasty white, like I was really a zombie," Jackie said. "And you know, say I have contacts. But eh, too much effort."

Marie giggled.

"Do you ever use your illusions to do something other than change your eye colour?" Marie asked.

Jackie chuckled wickedly.

"Don't ask questions unless you want to know the answer," Jackie said.

"Alright," Marie said, looking at her thoughtfully. "You told what's-his-name, that Kevin guy your mother was seeing, that you were studying Computer Science, but you didn't mention your second major in Criminal Justice. I'm just curious about why you left that out. A double major isn't anything to sneeze at."

Jackie was silent for a moment, looking down at the clothes she'd laid out on the bed.

"He knew about the Guild, but he wasn't part of the Guild, and I didn't know him," Jackie replied finally. "Telling him the whole truth was a security risk."

It was then Marie's turn to be silent. She supposed Jackie had a point: there was only so much a Criminal Justice degree was good for, and all the options were eyebrow raising when the bearer was a criminal.

"Does that make me a security risk now?" Marie asked finally. "Because I know you're Guild, and your...future plans?"

"Technically? Oui," Jackie admitted reluctantly.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"What? No," Jackie said, whirling around to look at Marie and shaking her head. "No. No, it's not... I mean... The Guild isn't just some super-secret society that no one's supposed to know about. I mean, we have to get customers somehow, and well, you qualify as a customer. And we have all sorts of connections and suppliers, and there's lots of people who are _technically_ security risks, but who aren't in practice, you know?"

Marie nodded slowly.

"I didn't tell Kevin because I wanted to minimise the risk," Jackie said. "Same reason why I didn't want you—and don't want anyone else here—finding out about my connection with the Guild."

"Well, you don't need to worry about me telling anyone," Marie said firmly. "Subject matter and potential assassination aside, this is something you told me in confidence, and I don't believe in breaking the confidences of my friends."

Jackie smiled. "Thanks, chère."

* * *

><p>A couple of weeks later, Marie was returning to the dorm after spending a few hours at the library, when she happened to pass a familiar car in the car park. She frowned. What was Remy doing here?<p>

Marie didn't have to go far to find out; in fact she caught him in the hallway on the way to her room.

"Hey," she said.

Remy turned at the sound of her voice and smiled. "Bonjour chère."

"What brings you here?" Marie asked, wondering if he was going to turn out to be a stalker or something.

"I'm picking up Jackie for her birthday dinner," Remy replied, and started walking down the hall again now that Marie had caught up to him.

"Birthday?" Marie repeated.

"Oui, she's nineteen today," he said. "You didn't know?"

"It's her birthday today and she didn't tell me?" Marie asked. "I'm hurt!"

Remy chuckled. "I'd invite you to join us, but we have rules about recent lovers not making appearances at Jackie's birthday dinners. Belle comes too."

"Oh," Marie said with a nod. "I bet that's interesting."

"The important thing is to remember that it's about Jackie, and not about taking advantage of any opportunity to get on Belle's nerves," Remy said, smiling faintly. "Takes a lot of restraint."

Marie snorted as they stopped in front of her door. "I just bet it does."

Remy grinned as Marie opened the door, knocked light and poked her head in. "Jackie? You decent?"

"Oui, why'd you—" Jackie began and then came into view to see a glimpse of her father through the gap. "Oh, hi Papa. You're back early, Marie. I didn't think you were returning 'til later."

Marie shrugged as she stepped inside. Remy leaned against the doorway.

"Glad I did," Marie said, shrugging her bag off her shoulders. "Else I never would have known it was your birthday."

Jackie shrugged. "No big deal."

"No big deal, my ass," Marie replied, dumping her bag on her bed. "If it was no big deal, you wouldn't be going out to dinner with your parents—both of them, at the same time."

"With strict orders not to fight," Remy added, grinning at Jackie. "I'd say that constitutes as a big deal."

"Oh but—"

"No buts," Marie insisted. "I'm going to wish you a happy birthday, and you're going to like it: Happy birthday."

Jackie laughed.

"Thanks," she said.

"You're welcome," Marie replied with a grin, and gave her a quick hug. "Have a good time."

"I will," Jackie said, then grabbed her jacket and turned to her father. "You know, I could have driven myself."

"Don't be silly," Remy said. "If you drove there yourself, we'd have to tell you where we were going, and where would be the fun in that?"

"What's the point of giving me a car, if you don't let me drive it?" Jackie asked, joining Remy at the door.

"Bragging rights," Remy replied automatically, then nodded to Marie. "See you 'round, chérie."

"See you," Marie replied, addressing them both. "Have fun."

As soon as Jackie and Remy departed, Marie picked up her phone.

* * *

><p>The following day, Jackie was quite shocked to walk into the club room after her class, and be greeted by a chorus of "Surprise!" and "Happy Birthday!" There was even a cake sitting on the table, complete with nineteen candles.<p>

"You told," Jackie said accusingly to Marie.

"Duh," Marie replied with a smirk. "And you thought you were going to get away with it. You're way too young to start getting insecure about your birthday."

"I'm not insecure about it," Jackie insisted. "I just didn't want anyone to make a big deal. Stop making a big deal."

"But...but cake _is_ a big deal," Toby replied. "By holding out on telling us this is your birthday, you wilfully denied us an excuse to have cake. Cake!"

"Toby—"

"Cake!"

"There's no reasoning with him now," Marie said, giggling. "I think you'd better blow out the candles, sugar."

* * *

><p>Jackie wasn't really all that impressed with being outed (even if she did enjoy herself in the end). Clearly this was call for some kind of revenge, and she was very good at revenge.<p>

The punishment would have to fit the crime, of course.

"Alright," Jackie said the following Friday night over their game of Dungeons and Dragons, "before this goes any further, I want to put certain people out of their misery. And by 'certain people' I mean just about everyone in this room."

"You're going to do a strip tease?" asked Toby. "That would put me out of my misery."

"But not everyone in this room," said Chris. "Marie probably isn't that interested."

"Unless it's a joint strip tease," said Toby.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Marie said, glaring at Toby.

"But I like the gutter," Toby replied, sounding pathetic.

"Ahem," Jackie cut in. "As I was saying before Toby started making inane suggestions: Brett?"

"Uhh, yes?" Brett asked.

"Ask Marie out already," Jackie told him. "We all know you have a crush on her—"

"Umm, Jackie—" Marie began as Brett's face started to go beet-red.

"And it's not like Marie has any intention of turning you down," Jackie went on blithely. "I'm just so tired of seeing you two pussy-footing around—"

"Heh, pussy," Toby snickered.

"Silence, lame-brain," Jackie commanded and then turned back to Brett. "Well? I'm waiting."

"I... Well... That is..." Brett stammered.

"What?" Jackie asked. "You can run a game, but you can't ask a girl out? What are you? A man or a mouse? As to that, why haven't you asked him out, Marie? It's all the rage for girls to ask guys out now."

"So call me old-fashioned," Marie replied dryly, "but I like it when the guy asks the girl."

"Meh, fine," Jackie said and then poked Brett. "You! Repeat after me: Marie, will you go out with me."

"Uhh—"

"No, the first word was 'Marie', not 'uhh'."

Brett swallowed hard, looking everywhere but at Marie.

"Jackie, don't force it," Marie said, feeling somewhat uncomfortable. "I'm sure that if Brett is really interested—"

"I'm sorry, but are you _doubting_ that he's interested?" Chris asked. "Trust me, he's hot for you."

"—then he'll ask me in his own time," Marie finished as if Chris hadn't said anything.

"Well, he's taking too long," Jackie said, glaring at Brett.

Brett licked his lips nervously.

"Come on already. You're the one who was in a coma for no apparent reason,' Jackie said. "You should be taking life by the horns. Next time you end up in a coma for no apparent reason you might be in it for two years or two decades, instead of two weeks."

Marie pressed her lips tightly together. _That_ was uncalled for.

"Just ask her to go out for some coffee or something," Sandra suggested. "Then you can discuss the nitty gritty of whether you want to officially start dating in private. Jackie."

"I make no apologies for trying to end the torment," Jackie replied.

Brett took a deep breath.

"Alright," he said. "Marie, would you like to go out to coffee with me tomorrow?"

"Sure, that would be lovely," Marie replied.

"Great!" Jackie said.

"Yeah. Can we get on with the game now?" asked Chris.

* * *

><p>Emil eyed Remy skeptically. They were at one of their favourite bars, sitting on a couple of stools and looking out on the other patrons.<p>

"You're all out of mistresses?" Emil asked disbelievingly.

"Effectively," Remy replied with a shrug.

"I don't believe it. Now I know Meg left awhile back," Emil said, frowning in thought. "And that other femme went back to Canada, but what about... what's her name, Patty?"

"I hardly see Patty these days," Remy said. "She's been busy with work and stuff, so when we do it's just about sex."

"Since when is that a bad thing?" Emil asked.

"When all I want is sex, that's what the brothel is for," Remy replied.

"Well, true, I guess," Emil said. "What about Jackie's friend? Marie, right?"

For a moment, Remy contemplating telling Emil the truth.

"College," he said finally. "And Jackie's not really happy about us seeing each other anyway."

He paused and then added: "I'm hoping she'll come around, but I'm not counting on it."

"Hmm, it's probably for the best," Emil said thoughtfully. "She was a little young for you."

"You're just jealous."

"Yeah, you've got me."

Remy snickered.

"I kind of miss her actually," Remy admitted ruefully. "Which is stupid, because I really haven't known her that long but... I don't know. She was like a breath of fresh air, I suppose."

"Ha!" Emil scoffed. "More like she was the shiny new girlfriend and you haven't gotten her out of your system yet."

"Possibly," Remy conceded.

While Remy was sticking with his "breath of fresh air" theory, there was some merit to Emil's. She was the only 'mistress' he'd had that hadn't slept with him.

"Alright then," said Emil, not noticing that he'd lost Remy in thought, "let's see if we can find a femme in here who doesn't mind fooling around with you for awhile."

* * *

><p>Some days later, Remy was sitting in the waiting room of the House of the Rising Sun. Across from the chairs was a two-way mirror so the working girls could make sure that their next customer wasn't a friend or—worse—a relative.<p>

"Remy?" said the receptionist, and then continued when he looked up. "Betty's ready for you."

"Merci," he replied.

He stood and made his way through the door by the reception desk. On the other side, standing just in front of the curtain that led to the viewing room of the two-way mirror, was a busty brunette, not quite as tall as he was hoping, but close enough. Her eyes were brown, rather than green.

"Hi," Betty said.

"Bonjour, chérie," Remy replied, pulling out a red rose he'd been holding behind his back. "For you."

"Aren't you sweet," she said, smiling as she accepted it. "Thank you. Our room's this way."

Remy gestured for her to lead on, and he followed her as she sauntered off. He was possibly a little too familiar with most of the girls at the Rising Sun, although Betty seemed to be one of the new girls. Betty wasn't her real name, of course, but Remy just called them all 'chère' or 'chérie' anyway.

It didn't take long to get to the bedroom and Betty shut the door behind them.

"So," she said. "Was there anything in particular you wanted?"

Remy slid his hands onto her hips and pulled her into him.

"Can you call me Swamp Rat?" he asked.

"Okay," she said, trying to keep the amusement out of her voice, "Swamp Rat."

Remy sighed. "Never mind. It just doesn't sound the same coming from you."

"Oh? Playing substitute, am I?" she asked.

"Sad, aren't I?"

"Hmm," Betty murmured non-committally. "Want me to help you forget her?"

"Please."

* * *

><p>Jackie lifted her head from her books and rubbed her temples. All this studying was giving her a headache. She blinked, and then squeezed her eyes shut as the headache rapidly got worse. Her eyes felt like they were going to burst. Her fingertips felt like they were on fire. She leaned forward, pressing her forehead against the desk, her fingers to the back of her neck and pulling her legs up on the chair as well.<p>

She could feel everything moving around her. Even the air she breathed was playing with her, taunting her, refusing to get involved and then rushing in through her nose and mouth at the last moment. She gasped for breath and finally felt the pressure release. There was a scattering of micro-explosions as she opened her eyes once more. There was some light scorch marks on her desk and books, but nothing particularly noticeable unless you went looking for them.

Jackie sat there for a moment. Her head still ached but she felt better. Slowly, Jackie stood up and made her way to the bathroom where they kept the painkillers. It was normal, she reminded herself. Her father had continued to have headaches and stuff because of his powers until his mid-twenties. And sure, they didn't have the exact same powers, but the principal was still the same.

It was normal.

She could deal with it.

She could.

* * *

><p>The school year seemed to come to an end before they knew it. Next thing Marie and Jackie knew, they were packing up their dorm room and preparing to go home for the summer. Marie was heading back to New York, and Jackie figured she would spend most of the time at Bella Donna's place.<p>

"I grew up there," Jackie explained. "I consider it home. I will stay at Papa's for a little while, most likely, but he understands that Maman's place is home for me."

The women said their good byes to their friends. Marie and Brett promised to stay in touch (he lived elsewhere in Louisiana), and at last they all parted ways.

In Marie's case, that meant getting picked up by Bobby and Kitty in the Blackbird.

"Does Storm know you've swiped the Blackbird to run errands?" Marie asked them as she stepped on board.

"Well, we did tell her you'd be flying back..." Bobby replied mischievously.

Kitty giggled and Marie nodded, looking very much amused.

"It's cool," Kitty assured her while they prepared for take off. "Storm knows. She's letting us get away with it 'just this once'. I figure we could probably get away with it until you finish college."

Marie laughed.

"And only because you're in a whole other state," Kitty clarified. "Of course, if you decided to transfer back to New York..."

"Nice try, Kitty," Marie replied. "I'm quite happy where I am."

"Besides, this way she gets free rides on the Blackbird," Bobby said. "We'll just forget you could fly all the time if you stayed—"

"You both have to knock it off," said Marie. "Because if you're planning on being like this all summer, you can just turn this baby around and leave me in New Orleans."

"But I thought you couldn't stay at college over the summer," Kitty said.

"I can't, but I'm sure I could figure something out," Marie replied. "Seriously, I would really appreciate it if you didn't harass me so much about moving back to New York. I _like_ living in New Orleans."

Kitty gave a melodramatic sigh. "Fine."

Marie snickered.

"Oh, by the way," Kitty went on. "I told Jubilee about Brett."

"Ahh," Marie replied, nodding. "Thanks for the warning."

* * *

><p>There was quite a welcoming committee waiting for Marie when the Blackbird landed. The moment she stepped off the ramp, she was getting hugs from everyone. 'Everyone' being Piotr, Jubilee, Logan and Storm.<p>

"It is good to have you back with us, Rogue," Storm said.

"It's good to be back," Marie replied with a smile.

Storm outright refused to call her Marie, but Marie didn't let it bother her. It was Storm's way of reminding her that she was still a mutant, Cured or not. Besides, it wasn't like Marie had stopped using 'Rogue' altogether.

"And I'm going to walk with you to your room," Jubilee declared, "and you are going to tell me _everything_ about this Brett."

Marie laughed. "Okay."

"Just one second," Logan spoke up before anyone could leave. "Rogue?"

"Yeah?" Marie asked, having a feeling she knew what was coming, based on the fact that Logan was calling her 'Rogue' rather than 'Marie' (or alternatively, 'Stripes', 'kid' or 'darling').

"Danger room, two o'clock," he said. "Just 'cause you're on break, doesn't mean you miss out."

Marie laughed.

"I'll be there," she said.

"Ha!" said Kitty. "Now we know the real reason you moved to New Orleans."

* * *

><p>Remy fumbled for the light switch with his back to the door frame as he kissed the woman whose arms were wrapped around him. His free hand was around her waist and when he found the switch and the light came on, he guided her inside his home and kicked the door shut.<p>

"This is it," he murmured, pulling away only long enough to say those words.

"Nice place," Silvia replied, not even looking around as she took the liberty of taking off his shirt, just about ripping off buttons in the process. "Where's the bedroom?"

Remy gave a low growl as he went for her shirt, and she his belt. "Upstairs."

"Much too far away," she said, while he tugged her towards the stairs.

Remy undid her bra, letting it land wherever it wanted on the floor while walking half sideways, half backwards up the stairs. Silvia had her hand inside his pants, feeling him grow hard beneath her fingers.

"You're telling me," he said huskily.

* * *

><p>Logan shook his head slowly as he looked at Marie, who was panting for breath in the danger room, leaning over with her hands on her knees.<p>

"Someone's gotten out of shape," he said.

"Oh shush you..." Marie replied. "Just because...I haven't been...doing danger room sims...for the better part of a year...does not mean I haven't been working out at all."

"Nope, it means you haven't been working out _enough_," Logan said. "We're going to have to fix that."

"Oh goody."

* * *

><p>Jackie swaggered up to a group of men in the bar, carrying a tray of filled shot glasses.<p>

"Hey guys," she said flirtatiously. "Anyone wanna buy a drink?"

She picked up two glasses with her free hand.

"How much?" asked one of the men.

"Two for five," Jackie replied to the man who asked, then turned her head to smile coyly at the man whose photo she'd been studying as of late. "You can just put the money in my bra."

Jackie only pushed out her chest a little bit, but it was enough to get their attention focused on her cleavage. She let the interested men cop a feel of her breasts under the guise of paying for their drinks, and made sure her target got the spiked drinks she'd prepared earlier.

Jackie continued to keep an eye on her target throughout the evening. It wasn't enough to walk away and simply trust that the drug would do its thing. She had to make sure that not only did the father-of-three have a heart attack, but that it was also severe enough to kill him, and that paramedics wouldn't be able to revive him, so that her client (his wife) could collect the life insurance. The drug in question was capable of triggering a heart attack—this chance increased with alcohol—and it had the added benefit of being likely dismissed should traces of it be found in an autopsy, as there could be any number of logical and reasonable explanations of how it got there.

In the event he survived, Jackie would just have to try again at a later date. Her client might not like the wait, but Jackie didn't care as long as the job got done without anyone suspecting it was a murder. Patience was perhaps, one of the few virtues she had.

Jackie kept an eye on her target throughout the evening as she continued around the bar selling shots, even returning to see if he—or his friends—were interested in any more. She ended up losing track of time as she busied herself, but realised she was the first to notice when he was having problems, even before his friends did. She supposed the fact that they'd all been drinking (with the exception of the designated driver), made it harder for them to notice something was wrong. All the better: the longer it took them to notice that he was in trouble, the greater the chance of fatality.

Eventually they did notice and call the paramedics. By this time, Jackie had sold off the last of her shots and had taken off. She wasn't completely out of the loop, however. She only needed to turn on her "iPod" to hear what was going on, courtesy of the bug she'd placed on her target when he'd bought a second round of shots.

Jackie listened from the comfort of her own car. She heard them try to revive him. She heard them fail. She heard them discuss contacting the next of kin, and finally switched it off when nothing more was said around the body.

She would have to retrieve her bug later.

* * *

><p>Marie was in the middle of breakfast with Bobby when the call came through:<p>

"All X-men please report to the Blackbird."

"Damn," Bobby said, looking mourning at his half-eaten breakfast. "I'm not done yet."

"So eat on the way," Marie replied, grinning at him.

"Meh," he complained, but stood, skulled down the rest of his juice and picked up his toast. "You know, you should come too."

"I'm not an X-man, Bobby."

"Why? 'Cause you don't have powers any more?" Bobby asked. "That's crap. You were restricted to hand to hand combat most of the time anyway."

"And yet, according to Logan, I'm badly out of practice," Marie replied, musingly. "Go on. You don't really need me out there."

Bobby gave a half shrug as he headed off backwards. "Team's not really the same without you, Rogue."


	7. Chapter 7

**AN:**

ma amie = "my friend" feminine

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

Jackie was delighted when Marie stepped through the doorway of their dorm at the beginning of September.

"Hey!" she said. "Long time, no see."

"Yep," Marie replied, pulling her bag in the rest of the way and closing the door. "How was your summer?"

"Great, you?"

"Ugh, I feel like I just came back from boot camp."

Jackie laughed. "Why's that?"

"Let's just say that my friends—one in particular—are rather adamant about being able to defend ourselves," Marie replied dryly. "And since I've been here, my workout routine hasn't been up to scratch."

"Oh dear," Jackie replied. "Wore you out, did they?"

"Yep," Marie said, then grinned."Fun though. I'm definitely going to have to up my workout during the year though, otherwise next summer I suspect I'll be in the same boat again."

"You can always spar with me if you want," Jackie said, a mischievous gleam in her eye. "I'll definitely give your defence a workout."

Marie's grin broadened in response to her challenge. "You're on."

* * *

><p>Jackie felt it was necessary for them to throw the first party of the year—or at least the first party amongst their friends—and so they did. On the night in question, their dorm was full of people, food and drink were everywhere and the music was blaring, Jackie had invited a number of their neighbours to join them, so there weren't really any complaints about the noise.<p>

It was purely coincidence that Remy happened to arrive at that time, although when he realised where the party was being held, he couldn't say he was overly surprised. It didn't take long for him to spot his daughter—the centre of attention—and she was not at all happy when she saw him.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed at him, getting him away from her friends.

Remy held up a small bag. "You left this at my place. I thought you needed it."

Jackie looked at the bag irritably, and took it from him.

"Thanks," she said begrudgingly. "Can you go now, please Remy?"

"Since when are we on a first name basis?" Remy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ha! Like I'm really going to call you what I usually call you in front of everyone," Jackie replied with a snort of contempt.

Remy chuckled.

"Alright," he said. "I'll pretend I'm not hurt that you think I'm an embarrassment—"

"More like a social liability," Jackie corrected.

"A social liability then," Remy said, "and I shall depart."

"I'll talk to you later, 'kay?"

"Okay," he said and started to walk off, before looking back at Jackie. "Hey, uhh, is Marie here?"

Jackie looked at him for a moment; if it wasn't for the fact that she did need her bag, she'd almost accuse him of inventing an excuse to come here and see her. At last she pointed to Marie where she was sitting with Brett, who had his arm over her shoulders.

"Over there," Jackie said, her eyes on Remy. "That's her boyfriend, Brett."

Remy froze slightly on the word 'boyfriend', although hearing it didn't really do much more than confirm what he could see with his own eyes.

"Well, she looks busy," he said finally. "I'll say hi some other time. Enjoy the rest of your party, Sunshine."

"I will."

Jackie watched as Remy weaved his way through the crowd, until he disappeared from view.

* * *

><p>A couple of weeks later, Jackie and Marie came down to the dorm kitchen for breakfast as they usually did. Toby, one of their housemates, was already there, picking despondently at his breakfast.<p>

"Hey sugar," Marie said, after getting her own breakfast and sitting down at the table with him and Jackie. "Something wrong?"

"My laptop got stolen yesterday," Toby replied. "It was just... It was _there_ one second and the next... I only looked away for a minute."

"A minute is all it takes," Jackie replied knowingly. "You call the cops?"

"Yeah," Toby said glumly. "They're not really holding out much hope though. And I have to find the serial number, but I don't think I have it written down anywhere."

"Insurance company might have it," Jackie said.

"It wasn't insured," Toby admitted ruefully.

"Well, that was stupid."

"Jackie," Marie said, frowning at her.

"Well, it _is_," Jackie insisted.

"Some of us can't afford insurance," said Toby.

"If you can't afford insurance, then you can't afford valuables in the first place," Jackie said seriously. "Tell me you at least had LoJack or something similar installed?"

The fact that Jackie knew how to get around that particular piece of software wasn't the point.

"What's LoJack?" asked Marie.

"Seriously?" asked Jackie. "It's a bit of software that can track the location of your laptop. Of course, it does require the thief to log into the internet, but it still significantly improves your chances of getting your laptop back. There are a few other variations on it too. I hear that Mac has something that deliberately sabotages the computer so that they're forced to take it to a repair agent, where it decides to start proclaiming that it's a stolen laptop. This amuses me."

"Didn't have that either," Toby said and Jackie shook her head in disgust.

"Better get yourself subscribed to an identity theft protection service then," Jackie said, "and hope that whoever stole it doesn't decide to steal your identity."

"Identity theft?" Toby asked, his eyes wide. "I didn't even... I was just... Here I was thinking that it was a good thing I have a backup on my USB drive, and now you're telling me someone might steal my identity?"

"Oh congratulations," said Jackie cynically. "You backed up your data. So you _are_ capable of doing something intelligent."

"Jackie," Marie said, glaring at her again.

"Laptops are goldmines of personal data," Jackie said, almost gleefully. "I hope you weren't doing anything important on there like internet banking. Also, you're going to have to change all your passwords: Amazon, eBay, Facebook, anything else you might have."

Toby groaned and Marie patted his arm sympathetically.

"Don't worry, sugar," she said. "I'm sure everything will work out.

Later, when she had a chance in private, Marie inquired of Jackie if she might have any idea who took Toby's laptop.

"Not a clue."

"Uh huh."

Jackie met Marie's suspicious look with a grin.

"It wasn't me, chère," Jackie said. "Of course, if it was me, I wouldn't admit it, but that's not really the point. The real point is that I'm not the only thief around. I'm not even the only thief you know. And in all seriousness, ma aime, you can't go around suspecting me every time something goes missing—or someone ends up dead—because it's highly unlikely that it would be me every time."

"_Every_ time?" Marie asked.

"Well, I'm not a future teller," Jackie said with a slight smirk. "I can't guarantee that every theft or murder you hear about will be Jackie-free. I _can_ guarantee that I won't have anything to do with most of them."

Marie nodded thoughtfully, deciding she had a point.

* * *

><p>Jackie and Marie were on their way to a club one Saturday night, when a young man approached them.<p>

"Hello ladies," he said. "I don't suppose either of you have a smoke, by any chance?"

"No, we don't—" Marie began, and then stared in surprise as Jackie pulled out a packet and held one out for him.

"Merci," he said, taking the cigarette gratefully and lighting it.

"You're welcome," Jackie replied, and then gestured to the club. "So, you headed in?"

"Uhh, no I wasn't planning to," he said and then took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Pity," Jackie said, chewing her bottom lip and deliberately running her eyes over him. "Well, if you change your mind, we're going to be there alllll night."

Marie snickered softly. She had been planning on questioning when Jackie started smoking, but obviously Jackie's reasons for keeping a packet on her had nothing to do with wanting to take up the habit herself.

* * *

><p>On a Saturday night some weeks later, Jackie looked up from her bed as Marie entered their dorm room, fresh from her date with Brett.<p>

"Hey," she said. "How'd it go?"

Marie let out a sigh and sat down on her bed to take off her shoes.

"It was okay, I guess," she said. "I think I'm going to break up with him."

"How do you go from 'it was okay' to breaking up?" Jackie asked.

Marie smiled faintly. "I think I need to instigate a policy of never dating anyone I absorb. My voices aren't nearly as loud mouthed as they were, but every now and then I still hear them, and it's a pain in the butt when I'm on a date with Brett and I realise I know things or I can anticipate things that I really shouldn't be able to. It takes all the fun out of getting to know someone."

Jackie chuckled.

"And now I have to figure out how," Marie said. "I like Brett, I just..."

"Don't want to use the cliché 'it's not you, it's me' line?" Jackie asked.

"No, which is a pest, because it happens to be true," Marie replied irritably.

"I could kiss him and you could conveniently walk in on us and—"

"I'm not going to set him up like that," Marie said, pulling a face at her.

Jackie grinned. "Alternatively, you could tell him that you don't think there's any chemistry or spark between you and you think you'd be better off as friends."

Marie nodded. "Yeah, I think I could probably do that."

* * *

><p>Marie stood with Jackie in one of the back rooms of a bar for Remy's 40th birthday. Although Marie had agreed to be friends with Remy, she hadn't really heard or seen much of him since. Marie only decided to take him up on his invitation because Jackie pointed out that most of the people would be friends of Remy's, and she wouldn't mind the company.<p>

As it turned out, Remy had a lot of friends. The room was fairly crowded, and everyone was talking, dancing and drinking (some doing all three at once). When they arrived, Remy greeted them and introduced them to Silvia, a hazel-eyed blonde woman who was hanging off his arm, and apparently his newest mistress.

Silvia did not get to monopolise Remy's attention, even if she'd wanted to. Remy made a point of spending time with all his guests. So naturally, given the opportunity, Remy took Marie out onto the dance floor.

"I'm glad you could make it," he told her. "I don't get to see you nearly as often as I'd like."

"Well, we don't exactly run in the same social circles," Marie replied. "Happy birthday, by the way."

"Merci."

Emil approached them while they were in the middle of dancing and tapped Remy on his shoulder to get his attention.

"No," said Remy, "you can't cut in."

"Pity," Emil said with a grin at Marie, "but that's not why I'm here. Belle just arrived."

"Belle?" Remy repeated in surprise. "I never invited her."

Emil shrugged and gestured towards the door. "She's here."

"Dammit," he said, seeing Bella Donna standing at the doorway and looking around. He sighed. "Thanks for the warning. Say…can you do me a favour and go distract Jackie for me?"

Emil glanced at Marie and a smirk appeared on his face. "I can do that."

Marie narrowed her eyes at Remy as he turned to look at her hopefully. Emil walked off quickly towards Jackie.

"No," Marie said firmly.

"Aww, but all I'm asking is that you help me irritate the woman who's made over half my life a misery," Remy said.

"No."

"But it's my birthday," Remy replied, giving her a pathetic look. "Please? She'll see us soon."

"Fine," Marie said with a sigh, "but don't say I never—"

Marie didn't have a chance to finish her sentence as Remy's lips had found hers. His tongue slid into her mouth as he pulled the rest of her body close to him. Belatedly, Marie remembered to wrap her arms around him and kiss him back. She felt guilty about enjoying it so much.

Remy only reluctantly broke off the kiss when he received a second tap on the shoulder and he turned to see a rather unimpressed Bella Donna looking at him. Now that she was closer, Marie could see a long, flat box in her hands.

"If you're done robbing the cradle," Bella Donna said, "perhaps you have time for a present?"

Remy eyed her suspiciously. "You haven't gotten me a birthday present in years."

"Well, it is your fortieth," Bella Donna replied loftily, holding out the gift. "It counts as a milestone."

"I suppose so," Remy conceded, accepting the gift warily. "Merci."

Bella Donna smiled. "Well? Aren't you going to open it?"

Remy cleared his throat and pulled away the ribbon, then took off the lid to reveal a walking cane. Remy laughed despite himself and Bella Donna smirked at him.

"Happy birthday, old man," she said, then turned her back on him as she headed back to the door and called: "Try not to break a hip!"

Marie giggled and Remy tossed the cane in his hand.

"Not as bad as you thought?" Marie asked.

"Beware of assassins bearing gifts," Remy replied with a grin. "Mais, I think I deserved this one. I opened up the 'you're getting old' box. You watch, the next thing I get from her will be viagra. Hmm… That's a good idea, actually—it'll be her fortieth this year too and I'm pretty sure they make viagra for women…"

Marie shook her head. "I'm going to find Jackie. Have fun plotting."

"Oh, I will."

Marie wasted no time finding Jackie, who was sitting with their back to them, a drink in hand. Marie sat down on a spare seat next to her.

"Papa talked you into kissing him, didn't he?" Jackie said.

"Yep," Marie admitted ruefully. "How'd you guess?"

"Emil came to distract me."

"Ahh," Marie said. "Your dad pulled the 'it's my birthday' card."

"That's because he's a con artist," Jackie said. "If only he would use his talents for extorting money instead of kisses."

Marie giggled. "If only he would use his powers for good instead of evil… Wait."

* * *

><p>Mason walked into the gym with a couple of his team mates, Perry and Harvey, and grinned when he spotted Jackie and Marie sparring on a couple of mats on the floor. He pointed them out, and Harvey was about to wolf-whistle when Jackie laid a particularly vicious blow on Marie, sending her down to the mats with a thud. Marie recovered enough to swing herself around and kick at Jackie's legs. Jackie dodged the initial kick, but only narrowly escaped the follow up, which would have gotten her right between the legs.<p>

"Merde," said Harvey. "If this is how they behave when they're friends, I'd hate to know what would happen if they hated each other."

"Yeah," said Perry with a smirk. "Now all we need is some mud."

Mason and Harvey laughed. Not long thereafter, Jackie held out a hand to help Marie up off the floor.

"You're getting better," Jackie said, pulling Marie up.

"You think?" Marie asked as she got to her feet. "Because from where I'm standing it doesn't feel like it."

"Trust me, chère," Jackie said. "You're picking things up faster than some...hmm...childhood friends of mine I've sparred with."

Marie interpreted that to mean apprentice Assassins. She also imagined that there was a lot of pressure on Jackie to be very good at fighting.

* * *

><p>"Oh, I can't next Saturday," Jackie said to Marie. "That's the Guild anniversary."<p>

Marie looked at Jackie in surprise.

"Really?" she asked. "Already?"

"It's been a year," Jackie replied with a chuckle.

"Well, yeah, I guess it has," Marie conceded, and then shook her head. "It doesn't feel like that long. So, what are you guys doing this year?"

"Papa has decided that we're all going to swimming," Jackie replied with a grin.

"Swimming," Marie repeated.

"Yeah, Papa knows this place that has a pool and bar," Jackie said. "He said that now that the United Guilds is twenty-one, it's legally allowed to drink."

Marie laughed.

"Since when does your dad care about that?"

"He doesn't," Jackie replied simply. "It's just an excuse."

* * *

><p>"Next Saturday" arrived, and Jackie met up with the Guild and her family at the pool. She was rather surprised to find that Julien was there. Her uncle typically avoided the years that Remy picked the location, although that may have been primarily because her father usually picked destinations or activities where sight was basically a requirement. Jackie was never entirely certain if Remy took Julien into account when picking places or not.<p>

Nevertheless, there he was, for some strange reason sitting at the same table as her parents and their current partners: Silvia and Daniel. Daniel looked noticeably younger than Bella Donna, but nowhere near the difference between Remy and Marie. Jackie wanted to comment, but she didn't really want to start getting in the middle of their Mistress vs Toy Boy wars. Aside from the fiasco with Marie, they were generally pretty good about keeping her out of it, and Jackie wanted it to stay that way.

"So," Julien said, his head unerringly faced in Silvia's direction, "you're Remy's latest slut. Not much to look at, are you?"

"Belle, are you sure we can't cut out his tongue?" Remy asked before Silvia could respond.

"He needs to be able to speak to his students, Remy," Bella Donna replied. "Besides, if we did that, we'd miss out on his dry wit."

"You're not laughing," Julien said to Silvia. "I don't think they got the joke, Belle."

"I got it," Silvia said dryly.

"You don't think it was funny? I thought it was hilarious."

"What are you doing here, Julien?" Remy asked. "Why don't you go sit with people who actually like you. Oh wait...there aren't any."

"You're not as popular as you'd like to think you are," Julien replied.

"Or maybe not as many people hate me as you'd like to think," Remy said, standing up. "I'm going to the pool. Silvia?"

"I'd love to join you," she said, standing up.

"Same," said Jackie.

"I do enjoy clearing tables," Julien said with a smirk.

* * *

><p>Marie sat at a table in the food court of the college along with a handful of her friends. Her friends were talking, but she wasn't really involved in the conversation. She kept thinking about how it had been a year since she last took the Cure. The first time around she got what? A year and a half out of it? It might be about to start wearing off any time now.<p>

"Marie?" asked Lauren, and when there was no immediate response, waved her hand in front of Marie's face. "Marie?"

"Huh? What?" Marie asked, lifting her head.

"You okay? You've been a little quiet today."

"Oh, it's nothing. Just a little lost in thought."

* * *

><p>Jackie managed to get through her twentieth birthday without her friends at college making a big deal, for which she was appreciative. This year it was Bella Donna who picked Jackie up for dinner at an undisclosed destination, and it was the first time Marie had seen her since Remy's fortieth. It was also the first time Bella Donna had seen Jackie's dorm room.<p>

"And how are you, Marie?" Bella Donna asked while she waited for Jackie to finish up in the bathroom.

"I'm good, thank you," Marie replied, a little apprehensive about talking with Remy's wife. "And yourself?"

"Fine," Bella Donna said, studying her thoughtfully. "Why _are_ you with… No, never mind, I can guess why you're with Remy."

Marie looked away. She'd be surprised if Bella Donna actually could, but didn't feel like she should enlighten her.

"I know he's very charming," Bella Donna went on, ignoring Marie's silence, "but a pretty, intelligent, young woman such as yourself can do a lot better."

Marie was spared having to reply as Jackie came out of the bathroom then, announcing that she was ready to go.

* * *

><p>A week later, Jackie walked in on Marie staring out of the window. It wasn't much of a view from there, but Marie had been lost in thought and not really looking at it.<p>

"Something wrong?" Jackie asked.

"Yes and no," Marie replied, turning around to look at her. "I think the Cure's starting to wear off again."

"Oh."

"I'm thinking about seeing your dad again, you know, before I put someone into a coma again," Marie said. "And we have exams coming up, and the last thing I want to think about is worrying about putting someone into a coma when I'm trying to pass."

"Right."

Jackie honestly didn't know what to say. She was a little worried about what another deal between Marie and her father would entail. She was also uncertain about whether Marie really needed to get the Cure, but didn't feel she was in a position to verbalise her thoughts on the matter to the other girl.

"If...if I talk to him again..." Marie began uncertainly, "he's going to want, uhh, more of the same as last time, isn't he?"

"I would assume so," Jackie replied. "Well, originally he wanted to use you to annoy Maman, and that's been done now, although he did con you into letting him kiss you at his birthday party. Probably just to rub it in. But anyway, you should at least assume he's going to want..."

Jackie stopped. She really, _really_ didn't want to think about her father desiring her room mate.

"Right so, I guess I'm trying to figure out if it's worth the cost," Marie said.

Jackie let out a long, slow breath.

"Alright," she said. "What you have to do is figure out trois things; one, what you're willing to offer him; deux, how far you're prepared to go; and trois, where the line is that you absolument won't cross. Because Papa will bargain with you, and he probably will ask for things across that line, but you need to stick to your guns and refuse. And if he insists, walk out. Walk out, and don't go back to him even if you do put someone into a coma again."

Marie nodded slowly. "Yeah, you're probably right. I wouldn't want to do anything I couldn't live with myself after."

"Yeah, well, besides that, if you do go back to him, you pretty much have to do, erm, pay whatever price he's looking for unless you can offer something else of equal or better value," Jackie said. "On the other hand, if he wants to make the sale badly enough, and you walk away, he pretty much has to drop it if he approaches you. I honestly couldn't tell you if he would or not. Papa's a gambler—"

"I've noticed."

"—and he has no problems with calling your bluff. He might even wait until you do put someone into a coma, expecting you to return to him like you did last time."

Marie blanched and Jackie nodded sadly.

"So, obviously it would be best if you didn't have to walk away, but I'm just saying so you know where you stand," Jackie said.

"I appreciate the advice."

* * *

><p>That Friday, Marie came to a decision. She called Remy to find out if they could meet, and he said she could come over that night. Jackie agreed to drive her, saying Marie should call as soon as she wanted to come home.<p>

Marie was more than a little nervous when she arrived at Remy's, and a little surprised at how quickly he opened the door for her.

"Come in, come in," he said and gestured to the lounge. "Please, have a seat. Did you want anything to drink?"

"No, no," she replied. "I'm fine, thanks."

That wasn't entirely true. In fact she was starting to feel a good deal like the proverbial fly who'd stepped into the spider's parlour. Marie sat down on the lounge and Remy sat down next to her.

"Okay so," Marie said, making sure to meet Remy's eyes as Jackie as also advised, "as I said to you on the phone, the last dose of the Cure I got is starting to wear off, and I'd like to get in first before it causes me any trouble. As my financial situation is no different to last year, I realise that payment must be in service, so in exchange I'm prepared to clean house for you once a week."

"For how long?"

"A couple of hours."

"No, once a week for how long?"

"Oh," Marie said. "Umm... A year? Well, nine or ten months, really, because I'll be spending the summer in New York again."

"Do I get to pick your uniform?" Remy asked, making a point of running his eyes over her.

"As long as it's practical and doesn't involve the exposure of underwear, or what underwear is supposed to be covering," Marie replied firmly.

Remy nodded slowly and Marie couldn't believe it. He was actually taking her offer seriously. She was so sure that he'd ask for sexual favours (although the uniform question possibly qualified).

"I'm sorry, but I have to decline," Remy said. "I do all my own cleaning as I'm the only one I can trust not to spy on me."

"Uhh...okay..."

"Hey, I've got some valuable stuff in this place and I _am_ the co-Leader of the United Guilds, chère," Remy pointed out. "My concerns are warranted. So, I'm afraid we're going to have to settle on something else. I want you for my mistress."

"And I am not having sex with you," Marie retorted hotly.

"Pity," Remy replied evenly. "I guess we'll have to stick with all the other things I do with my mistresses, like dating."

Marie pursed her lips.

"Fine," she said. "Last year we went out...ten times, I think it was. We can have ten dates this time."

"Oui, but one of those dates was for the sole purpose of annoying Bella Donna," Remy pointed out. "Ergo, it was much more valuable than the other dates. Twenty."

"But nine of those dates were for the 'sole purpose' of practising," Marie replied, glaring at him. "_Ergo_, they are significantly less valuable than a regular date. Seven."

"Hey, you can't go backwards."

"I can so. I was perfectly happy to go on quantity of dates," Marie said with a flick of her hair. "You're the one who decided to bring quality into it."

"Fifteen."

"Ten."

"Twelve. One each month for the next year."

"I'm in New York for the summer, remember?"

"So a couple of months we'll go out twice instead of once."

Marie nodded. "Alright."

"Bon. Now," Remy went on, "as last year, I do expect to be able to touch and kiss you, ma chérie."

"The touching conditions of last year are acceptable to me," Marie replied. "And there is no argument you can come up with that will persuade me to upgrade your touching privileges."

Remy smirked at her. "You can still touch me anywhere you want, chère. But, it's funny you should say that about arguments, because I do have an argument for upgrading one aspect of last year's agreement."

"And what aspect would that be?" Marie asked, not entirely sure she wanted to.

"There was one date we went on last year where you stayed overnight," Remy said. "And you slept in Jackie's room. If you stay for the night on any of these dates, I want you to sleep in my bed."

"I—"

"And you've known me longer than a week," Remy hurried on, "so you can't say that how long we've known each other is a factor any more."

"What's this argument of yours? Because I fail to see anything that can justify that," Marie replied.

She didn't like this. If she agreed to that, there was no doubt in her mind that Remy would make sure she slept over after every single date.

"The Cure is limited supply," Remy said matter-of-factly. "They don't make it any more, therefore, every time I sell a dose, the cost of the rest goes up. Laws of supply and demand, chère."

Marie felt sick. She knew what that meant, that was licence to ask for more every time she needed another dose.

"Just what is the current price for the Cure?" she asked.

Remy told her. Marie gained a new understanding of the phrase "just about had a heart attack".

"I could probably make a hundred times that if I was less scrupulous about my customers," Remy added.

"Wow," said Marie when she found her voice. "You know, I was really offended and insulted when you asked me for sex initially, and now I'm not sure if I should feel complimented."

Remy laughed.

"Yeah, I don't usually spend anywhere near that kind of money on a..." he began, coughed, and then changed to: "See this is why I should never negotiate when I'm drunk."

"I don't think anyone should negotiate when they're drunk," Marie replied with a smirk.

"Probably right," Remy said easily. "So, about sleeping over?"

"Why?" Marie asked, now determined to stall. "Why do you want that?"

Remy was quiet for a moment before answering. "I just like waking up next to a belle femme."

Marie eyed him skeptically. "No, seriously."

"I do," he insisted.

"Uh huh," Marie replied, not at all certain if she believed him, "then you won't mind if we're both fully clothed?"

"Aww chère, some nights are too hot for full-length pajamas."

"I'll be in New York over the summer."

"Not all hot nights are in summer," he replied. "Underwear."

"You are not going to see me in my underwear," Marie said firmly.

"Why not? I don't care if you see me in mine."

"Sugar, you probably don't care if I see you naked."

"I can strip off right now if you want."

"Pajamas, Swamp Rat," Marie said, glaring at him.

Remy grinned broadly.

"I promise I'll wear pants," he said. "Shirt is optional. And I want to see you in a negligee."

"You might _want_ to," Marie replied. "But you should just consider yourself lucky if I wear anything to bed that shows off my knees."

"How scandalous of you, chérie," Remy said, a merry twinkle in his eye. "Alright let's recap: Twelve dates to be spread out over a year, touching privileges stay the same, you join me in bed when you stay overnight and may even expose your knees for me, while I have to wear pants."

Marie giggled despite herself.

"That sounds about right," she said. "Oh, umm, I'm not actually seeing anyone else at the moment, but ahh... You don't consider this an exclusive relationship do you?"

"Not at all," Remy assured her. "I'm seeing someone else at the moment, so that would be a bit of a double standard if I didn't let you date other people."

"Not to mention your wife," Marie added with a smirk.

"Bella Donna is not to be considered a topic of casual conversation," Remy replied sternly.

"Alright then."

"So... I think we've about covered everything," Remy said.

Marie nodded. "Yeah, I can't think of anything that needs to be sorted out."

"So we have a deal?"

"Yeah, we have a deal."

"Bon," Remy said, standing up. "Stay there, I'll be right back with your dose."

"Thanks."

It didn't take long for Remy to come back. Just as he had last time, he took making the injection very seriously, until it came time to the band-aid:

"Disney Princess again?" he asked.

"Nah, I think I'll take Pirate, this time," Marie answered with a smirk.

Remy grinned at her, then put the round band-aid on, and destroyed the evidence by charging it up and throwing it over the back of the lounge. Marie shook her head, seeing the beginnings of another large patch of black on the floor.

"That much be a pain to clean up all the time," she said.

"I'd rather have ash in the trash than needles," Remy replied with a shrug. "So... it working yet?"

"Yes, I believe so," Marie said, looking back at him. "But like I said, I wanted to get in first."

"Good plan."

And without another word, Remy leaned forward, moved one hand to the back of her head and kissed her eagerly. Marie was momentarily surprised, but lifted her hands to his head and neck and kissed him back. Remy wrapped his free arm around her waist and pulled her into him. Remy moved from her lips and began kissing along her jaw to her earlobe.

"What this?" Marie asked, not really expecting him to move onto her so soon.

"I'm sealing the deal with a kiss," he replied, and continued kissing down her neck.

"This feels like multiple kisses."

"Then I guess you'll just have to give me a refund."

Marie snickered. "I should really give Jackie a call."

Remy reluctantly pulled away. "Leaving so soon?"

"Well, unless you want to make tonight our first date?" Marie asked.

"Nah," he said after a moment's thought. "Next Friday, I'll pick you up for dinner at six."

"Alright."

"And you need to bring a nightgown," Remy went on with a grin, "preferably one that shows off your pretty knees."

Marie giggled.

"And you should also bring a toothbrush that you can keep here, and a change of clothes," he finished.

"I knew it," Marie replied. "I knew the moment I agreed to sleeping in your bed, you'd try and get me to do it all the time."

"See? I knew you were smart," Remy said, grinning at her.

"Just don't get grabby in the middle of the night, Swamp Rat, or I will kick your ass."

* * *

><p>"So?" Jackie asked as Marie got into her car a little later. "How'd it go?"<p>

"It wasn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be," Marie admitted. "He didn't push for sex or anything. Well, he wants me to sleep in his bed if I sleep over again, which will probably be every single date if he has his way about it, I guess."

Jackie pulled a face as she pulled out onto the street. "I'm not sure I want to think about that."

"If it makes you feel any better, I made him agree to wear pants," Marie replied with a grin.

"Actually, it does," Jackie said after a moment's consideration. "So, what else are you in for?"

"I've committed to twelve dates over the next year," Marie said.

"That's not so bad, I suppose," Jackie said, a little reluctantly. "Nothing else I should know about?"

"Not really. Everything else is the same as last time. Well, with no plotting to irritate your mother in front of you."

"I'd prefer it if you didn't make out with mon père in front of me at all," Jackie replied.

"Yeah, don't worry, I'm sure your dad learned his lesson from last time," Marie said, then shrugged and added: "And if he hasn't, I'll just have to smack him around some."

Jackie chuckled.

* * *

><p>The following Sunday morning, Remy rolled over in bed and found the other side empty. He was disappointed, but not all that surprised: although he had been with Silvia the night before, and she had slept over, she had this annoying tendency to wake up before him. That wouldn't be so bad if she'd stay in bed, but did she? No. Remy definitely would have broken things off with her, if weren't for the fact that when she got up in the morning, she would make him breakfast in bed. Yeah, it was hard to stay mad at her for that.<p>

He rolled back onto his back and stared up at the ceiling while he listened to the noises going on downstairs. Silvia always seemed to make a lot of noise when all she was doing was making breakfast. Strange girl. Eventually, he heard her come up the stairs and smiled as she opened the door, and came in carry a tray.

"Hey, you're up," Silvia said.

"Oui," Remy replied as he sat up in bed. "Morning, chérie."

"Morning."

Silvia placed the tray on his lap and joined him in bed for breakfast. They ate and then Remy finally got out of bed. He invited Silvia to join him in the shower, but she declined as she usually did first thing in the morning, and instead took the breakfast things back downstairs.

Remy got the shower running, then realised he didn't have a towel, so with the shower still running, he zipped out of the bathroom to grab one from the linen press. As he headed back to the shower, he thought he heard the front door close.

* * *

><p>Remy woke up on Friday morning feeling a little excited. Tonight was his date with Marie, and he'd been looking forward to it all week. Every now and then a woman would come along that would make him feel like a teenager again, and although he felt a little silly, he rather enjoyed it. Marie was definitely one of those women.<p>

It was when he got downstairs that Remy realised he had a problem; his house was a mess and he was planning on bringing Marie back tonight.

"Coffee first," he told himself, and set about getting just that.

Remy had his coffee and his cigarette. It was just when he was stubbing out his cigarette in the ash tray he kept on the kitchen bench that he remembered that Marie didn't like smoking. He would have to remember to get his fix and take a breath mint before taking her out. And he would have to air the house out. He already took some precautions in that area as he didn't like having the place smelling of cigarette smoke when Jackie stayed over.

The next few hours were a whirlwind of activity on Remy's part. He opened up all the doors and windows, turned on all the fans, took out the garbage, swept, vacuumed and made a mental note to finally get around to replacing the carpet one of these days (there was ash in the carpet so ingrained it refused to be sucked up by the vacuum). It was while he was getting started on the kitchen that his phone rang:

"You planning on coming into work today?" his secretary, Cassie, asked him when he answered.

"Now that you mention it...no," Remy replied. "I've got too much to do at home today."

"Uh huh," she said disbelievingly. "Well, you've got 'too much' to do here too."

"I'm sure it can wait until Monday. In fact why don't you give yourself the day off? Long weekends for everyone!"

Cassie was given no chance to respond before Remy hung up. Just to make sure, he turned off his phone and set it aside. (Later he would find a message from Bella Donna on his voicemail: "I don't care who she is, or how much you like this one, you do not get to shirk your duties to the Guild because of some femme!")

Remy cleaned up the kitchen, and the bathrooms, and finally got to work on the most important room of them all: his bedroom. Dirty clothes were gathered up and moved to the laundry. Clean clothes were put away. Remy started to make the bed and then decided that he hadn't changed the sheets for awhile, and in any case Silvia had been sleeping in them. Marie shouldn't have to sleep in the same sheets. So Remy stripped off the bed, and then went looking for some clean ones. He was rather surprised to find an unopened set in the linen press, declared that they were the only ones good enough, and then went about making the bed.

* * *

><p>At six o'clock that evening, Marie opened her door at the knock to see Remy standing there.<p>

"Hi," she began and then gave a small exclamation of surprise when he presented her with a modest bouquet of mixed flowers. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied and then glanced up when he noticed Jackie hovering behind Marie. "Hi Sunshine."

"Hi," Jackie replied shortly. "Please don't linger in the hallway. I wouldn't want anyone else to witness this obscenity."

Marie coughed uncomfortably and avoided Jackie's eyes as she put the flowers aside.

"I promise to do my best not to embarrass you," Remy replied solemnly, and then looked back at Marie. "Ready, chère?"

"Sure," Marie said, picking up a bag near the door. "I'll see you later, sugar."

"Have fun," Jackie said. "But not _too much_ fun."

Marie chuckled and closed the door behind her as she stepped out into the hallway with Remy.

"Yeah," said Marie while she walked with Remy back out to the parking lot, "she's not really happy about this."

"I am sorry I've upset her," Remy replied, slipping his arm around her waist. "But I'm not sorry I'm getting to spend time with you."

Marie wasn't sure what to say about that, and in fact, now that she had more time to think about this, a part of her was seriously wondering what exactly Remy's interest in her was. She wasn't really sure it was just to annoy Bella Donna.

They reached the car and Remy opened up the door for her, shutting it after she got in, and in his usual style, climbed over the driver's side door to his own seat. He held the door open for her again when they got to the restaurant—both of them—and even held her chair out for her when they were shown to their table. The reservation was in the non-smoking section, which Marie appreciated. She was, however, once more embarrassed when Remy ordered wine, and the waiter wanted to check their ID.

"I'm sorry miss," the waiter began when he handed her licence back to her, "but you're underage, so—"

"You misread it," Remy said, holding out a note to him. "She's twenty-one."

"Umm, I'm sorry but she's only twenty," he replied.

Remy added another note to his hand, and Marie turned her head away from the exchange.

"You misread it," Remy insisted.

"Oh, right," the waiter replied, getting the hint and accepting the notes. "I'll be back with your drinks."

"You really didn't need to do that," Marie said as soon as the waiter had left the table.

Remy shrugged. "I like a little bribery and corruption with the evening meal."

The meal progressed. Remy asked her about how college was going. Marie really didn't want to know how his work was, but she asked anyway just to be polite and to avoid an awkward silence. Fortunately for Marie's conscience, he didn't reveal any details.

From there the conversation moved to movies. They'd learned from the year before that they already had similar tastes, and thus ended up discussing the releases over the past year rather extensively. Partway through the meal, Remy took the liberty of stealing a bite of Marie's food.

"Hey," Marie objected. "Eat your own food, Swamp Rat."

Remy chewed thoughtfully, swallowed and then said: "Not too bad."

Marie glared at him, then reached over and stole a mouthful off his plate. Remy grinned at her.

"You like?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's alright," she replied.

"Want another taste?"

Marie shrugged. "Sure."

She started to reach over with her fork again, but Remy caught her face and kissed her instead.

"That's not quite what I meant, Swamp Rat," Marie informed him after she got her second 'taste'.

"It was an interesting combination though," Remy replied cheerfully.

After dinner they went for a slow, casual walk, then finally made it back to the car and headed back to Remy's home. While Remy shut the door behind them, Marie looked around the lounge room and decided he must have cleaned up recently. There was a significant lack of a black patch on the floor behind the lounge for one thing.

"So," said Remy, gesturing to the bag over Marie's shoulder. "You've got a toothbrush in there? Nightgown?"

"Oh, umm, yeah," Marie replied awkwardly.

"Great," Remy said, wrapping his arm around her waist. "I'll show you where you can keep them."

"Alright."

Marie felt more than a little nervous being guided up the stairs by Remy. The feeling rapidly increased as they walked down the hall and became outright panic when Remy began opening the bedroom door. But the room he revealed was just an ordinary bedroom with better quality furniture than she was used to seeing. Remy didn't seem to notice her worry—or if he did he chose to ignore it—and he opened up the door to the ensuite.

"You can just keep the toothbrush in the holder," he said.

Marie took the toothbrush out of her bag to put it away. There was only one other toothbrush in the holder, which she presumed to be Remy's. She wondered, since he had admitted he'd been seeing someone else as well, if the other woman had a toothbrush somewhere here too, or if she just used Remy's.

Remy was pulling his shoes off when Marie came back out of the bathroom. He smiled when he saw her and patted the bed next to her. She sat down next to him and decided she should follow suit in taking off shoes.

No sooner than her second sock had touched the floor, Remy had her in his arms. His lips were all over her lips, her neck, her cheeks. One of his hands was on her back, and the other had a firm grip on her behind. Marie put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him back when his lips met hers.

It was taking a good deal of restraint on Remy's part not to do with her what he really wanted to do with her, especially when she was being only minimally responsive—now _that_ was frustrating. Come on, where was that firey, sassy girl he'd been dining with earlier? Becoming increasingly irritated, he finally did something he knew would get a response out of her, and put his hand on her shirt over her breast.

"Hey," Marie objected, grabbing his hand and pulling it off. "Hands off, Swamp Rat."

"Aww," Remy replied, giving her a sad face that was far too happy. "But I wanted—"

"I don't care what you wanted, you don't get to touch me there!"

Remy looked down at the bed and traced circles on her legs.

"I wanted to hear you say 'down boy'," he said pathetically.

Marie stared at him, having forgotten all about that until he mentioned it.

"I... You..." she began uncertainly, and then finally come out with a solid: "I told you I wasn't going to reward bad behaviour."

"You can spank me if you want," Remy replied, grinning at her.

"No, I really don't think so," Marie said, shaking her head. "I think you'll probably enjoy it."

Remy chuckled and then caressed her face gently. "Come play with me, chère."

"You make is sound like a game."

"It is a game, and you're being a spoilsport."

"I am not a spoilsport," Marie objected, her green eyes flashing at him.

"Oh yeah?" Remy challenged her. "Prove it."

Marie glared at him for a moment, then grabbed him by the collar and kissed him hard. Remy was momentarily surprised by her forcefulness, but was by no means complaining and kissed her back with equal fervour. They ended up further into the middle of the bed, and Remy pulled one of Marie's legs over him so she was straddling his lap. While his hands ran over her legs, waist and behind, Marie delighted him by unbuttoning his shirt. She didn't take it off him, but she did put her hands on his chest and kneaded the hard muscle.

Remy leaned back, pulling Marie down on top of him. She lifted her head to look at him.

"Oh do keep going, ma chère," he said, his voice low and husky. "Don't stop on my account."

Marie was quiet for a moment, and then said: "Told you I wasn't a spoilsport."

Remy grinned as Marie continued kissing him.

Eventually, Remy suggested it was time to change into something more comfortable. Marie changed in the ensuite and waited until Remy assured her he was wearing pajama pants before she came out again. The plain, pale green nightgown she was wearing was rather baggy, with large sleeves.

"Look!" Remy exclaimed, pointing. "Knees!"

Marie laughed nervously as Remy got down on the floor so that her knees were at his eye line, and planted a kiss on each one. Sure, he had seen them before, on the odd occasions where Marie had actually worn a skirt, but that wasn't the point.

"You're weird," she informed him.

"Hey, you were the one who said I should consider myself lucky if I got to see them," Remy replied with a grin as he stood back up again. "I consider myself lucky."

* * *

><p>Marie was woken up the next morning by the sudden arrival of an unexpected weight over her waist and a warm body at her back. Her eyes shot open and she saw the unfamiliar room, then turned her head and saw Remy behind her. Marie turned her head back. He was snuggling with her. <em>Snuggling<em>. Somehow she never really picked him as a snuggler. The idea occurred to her that maybe he had been serious when he said that he just liked waking up next to a "belle femme".

Marie sighed lightly as she closed her eyes again and just enjoyed the moment. Overall, Remy seemed fairly harmless. She was by no means deceiving herself about this: he was in charge of an organised crime syndicate, he was a thief, he was married to an assassin, his daughter was both thief and assassin, he'd been subjected to mutant experimentation, and he blew up his own garbage just by touching it. There was no way Remy was _completely_ harmless.

Still, he'd never actually tried to hurt her.

How long they lay there, Marie wasn't certain. She was pretty sure she did go back to sleep at one point. Eventually, she felt soft kisses being gently planted on her neck and her eyes fluttered opened.

"Morning," Remy said.

"Morning," she replied, turning her head to look at him.

Remy smiled at her and brushed her hair out of her face. "See? Is this not the best way to wake up in the morning?"

Marie grinned and nodded. "I have to admit, it's not too bad."

He may not have been her first choice in bed partner, but it was kind of comforting to wake up with another person.

"Bon," he replied and kissed her lips again, but closed mouthed (unlike the night before). "How do you feel about staying in bed with me all day?"

"I think that would be a really, really long date," Marie said.

Remy sighed and went back to kissing her neck. "I guess so. I suppose you'll be wanting me to take you home as well?"

"That would be appreciated," Marie replied, sounding amused.

Remy kissed her chin and then sat up. "Well, I guess I should get breakfast started."

* * *

><p>After breakfast, which Remy succeeded in dragging out for as long as possible, and a number of other delays to stall their leaving, he finally dropped Marie back off at the dorms. She didn't escape without a final, passionate kiss in the parking lot though.<p>

Marie didn't see Jackie again until later that day, and rather suspected that Jackie didn't want to know what time she got back. She was even reluctant to ask how everything went.

"It was fine," Marie assured her. "Nothing bad happened."

"That's a matter of opinion," Jackie muttered in reply.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Silvia was about to get into Remy's bed when Remy startled her with an unexpected "No!"

"Uhh," Silvia said, giving him an odd look.

"I have to change the sheets," Remy said, staring hard at the bed.

"I'll help," Silvia replied.

"No, no," Remy insisted. "You go have a shower or something. I'll do it."

Silvia agreed, but continued to look at him like he'd gone a little nuts. Remy didn't really blame her. He didn't know why he felt this way, but these sheets were the sheets that Marie had slept in when she'd stayed over, and he didn't want Silvia touching them.

It had only been a week since his date with Marie, but Remy was already looking forward to the next one. In fact, he'd been in a pretty good mood all week and everyone had noticed. The only thing he was sorry about was that Marie was only with him because he was basically paying her to be. Although that wasn't really a whole lot different from visiting the brothel (where he also paid the women to be with him), Remy didn't like comparing Marie to them. He was having a relationship with Marie, not sex.

Remy finished changing the sheets over and carefully set his "Marie sheets" aside where Silvia couldn't see or touch them. He'd wash them separately later.

It wasn't until much later, when Silvia was fast asleep beside him in the bed, that Remy figured out why it bothered him so much: He was having sex with Silvia, but he wasn't having sex with Marie. It just didn't feel right to make Marie sleep in sheets that he'd been sharing with other women and ejaculating in.

He wondered if he should share this with Marie, and opted against it. She'd probably see it as a case of "too much information" rather than an odd way of demonstrating respect.

Remy rolled over and curled up next to Silvia. Best make the most of her being in bed with him now; she'd probably wake up before him again in the morning.

* * *

><p>Marie preferred not to think about Remy, and she certainly didn't talk about him with Jackie. Marie just wanted to get on with her life and not think about the guy she'd sold herself to once a month for the next year. Fortunately, she had plenty of things to distract herself with, such as college. All those exams and papers and just general study were hard work.<p>

Date number two was arranged for a week after Marie had to endure three exams. She had to admit she liked the idea of having a night out, and it wasn't like Remy was bad company just because he wasn't her first choice.

Remy brought another bouquet of flowers when he arrived and this time Marie had a vase to put them into.

"Where's Jackie?" he asked.

"She decided she didn't want to be here when you picked me up," Marie replied as she headed out the door.

"Oh."

Marie patted his back gently. Remy smiled faintly at her, but was still disappointed, He honestly didn't know what to do about Jackie. He wished he could get her to understand, but he really didn't know where to start.

For their date that night, Remy took Marie out to see a "brain dead" movie (Marie wasn't in the mood for any movie that involved thinking). They had drinks, and popcorn to share. Although there was no making out during the movie itself, Remy did enjoy some kissing while the ads were on, and would hold her hand or put his arm around her shoulders when he wasn't eating or drinking.

Instead of going straight back to Remy's place afterwards, as Marie had expected, he instead he took her to the rooftop of one of the nearby, taller buildings. Marie leaned on the half wall and looked out on the city.

"It's nice up here," she said.

"Oui, I thought so too," Remy said, gently rubbing her back.

There was the sound a screeching tires and another vehicle zooming past.

"Pity about the noise," he added.

Marie chuckled softly, and then there was quiet between them for a time.

"So," he said. "You'll be heading back to New York soon."

"Uh huh." Marie nodded.

"Seeing your mutant friends at Xaviers?"

"Yeah I... Wait, how'd you... Oh yeah I told you last year, huh?"

Remy chuckled. "That you did. See? I was paying attention."

"Always good to know," Marie replied with a smirk.

"What do they think about you taking the Cure?"

Marie shrugged. "I think some of them were a little disappointed in me. I know Storm blatantly refuses to stop calling me Rogue."

"Rogue? Your mutant name?"

"Yeah," Marie said. "I used to insist that everyone call me that instead of Marie. But then the Cure came along and it seemed...redundant. Storm insists that I didn't need Curing."

"You disagree, obviously."

"Well, I don't know," Marie said slowly. "I mean, I don't think mutation is a disease or anything like some people do. It's just for me, well, my mutation was ruining my life. I couldn't touch anyone without hurting them, I nearly killed my friend, I had that much of my friends inside my head it was getting hard to tell what they told me and what I'd absorbed from them. I was going nuts."

Remy decided not to comment. Truth be told, he privately thought that anyone who took the Cure was a bit of a coward, but who was he to fuss? He made a lot of money off cowards.

"But anyway," Marie went on, not seeming to notice Remy's silence, "they all still consider me one of them and pretty much everyone was mad at me when I decided to come here for college, but they just need to get over it. Besides, the whole point of going to another state for college was to get away from the bulk of the people I'd absorbed. Not that I don't like them by any means, but I'm trying to find Marie again, and that's a little hard when she keeps getting mixed up with everyone else."

"Marie got lost, did she?" Remy asked.

"Yeah," she replied glumly. "Lost in the crowd."

"Hmm, I find it impossible to believe that a belle femme like you wouldn't stand out in the crowd."

Marie laughed.

"Do you have a mutant name?" Marie asked. "I know Jackie uses Le Diable Blanc. She said she got that from you?"

"Oui, it was a name people gave me when I was growing up," Remy said with a slight nod and a distant look in his eyes. "Back when my eyes looked like Jackie's."

"That must have been hard," Marie replied softly.

"Jackie does the name more justice than I," Remy said. "Besides, ironically, the same place that took away my, hmm, original mutant name, was the same place that gave me my current one: Gambit. I used to play poker with the guards."

"Of course you did," Marie said with a slight smile. "Gambit, hmm? When you sacrifice something minor to gain an advantage later."

"Suit me, hein?" Remy replied with a grin. "Anyway, I guess I should arrange the next date for just before you leave. How'd you like to go to a day spa?"

"Oh," Marie said, blinking in surprise. "Actually that sounds pretty nice."

"Does, doesn't it? Actually for that matter, I should invite Jackie too," Remy said. "I bet she could use a way to relax after the school year too. Although I guess it wouldn't really be a date then."

"Not really, but I think it'll be a good idea," Marie said. "You know, as long as you don't decide to kiss or otherwise flirt with me in front of her. I guess if we decide to go off on our own afterwards we might consider that part a date."

"Alright," Remy said, sounding well-pleased. "I'll talk to her and see if she's interested."

The conversation lapsed into a companionable silence after that, and then Remy walked away from the edge. Marie turned her head to look at him and watched in curiosity as he pulled out a handheld device of some variety (she couldn't tell from the distance). A moment later music started to play and he turned to look at her.

"Care to dance?" he asked, holding out his hand.

Marie smiled and accepted his hand. "Sure."

* * *

><p>Although a little suspicious at first, Jackie did like the idea of going to the spa. A couple of weeks later, when the semester was finally over, Remy took Jackie and Marie down to a day spa. It quickly became evident to Marie that this was not the first time he'd been there. In fact the receptionist even looked between Remy and the two women with a perturbed expression on her face.<p>

"Nice to see you again, Remy," she said, her voice clipped.

"Bonjour chère," Remy replied, leaning on the counter. "This is my daughter, Jackie and her friend Marie."

"Daughter?" she repeated, only now noticing the family resemblance. "Oh thank God. For a moment there..."

Remy laughed. "Well, while I'm sure the boys think that Jackie's a belle femme, I'm not really into that whole incest thing."

"Eww," said Jackie.

"They've just finished college for the year, semester, whichever," Remy went on. "I thought I'd help them relax after all those exams, no?"

"Very thoughtful of you," the receptionist agreed, and then proceeded to give them the run down on the treatments available.

Once their itinerary for the day had been worked out, they headed to their first destination, the massage rooms.

"So," Marie said mischievously to Remy, "come here often?"

"Whatever gave it away?" Remy asked. "This happens to be a really good date location."

"Uh huh," Jackie said. "I noticed you agreed to get a facial too..."

"So? It's not like it's the first time. They happen to have one specifically for men here."

"Hear that Marie?" Jackie said, nudging her. "He's gotten a facial before."

"I heard," Marie replied with a grin. "Next thing he'll be telling us it's only because his date got one."

"Yeah, but I don't buy it. I mean, look how quick he was to volunteer to get one with us."

"You do raise a good point," Marie said.

"Do you suppose he's gay?" Jackie asked slyly, winking at her father.

"I don't know," said Marie. "I would assume that if your dad was a raging homosexual, he would have tried annoying your mama by flaunting male partners in front of her and maybe even flirting with some of her boyfriends."

"That's not a bad idea, actually," Remy said thoughtfully.

"Aww crap," said Jackie. "You've given him ideas."

Remy chuckled wickedly. "I should kiss Emil in front of her. She hates Emil."

"Emil would never go for it," said Jackie.

"You're assuming I would warn him."

"Emil would then proceed to beat the crap out of you and then Maman would laugh."

"True," Remy said, then shrugged. "He's not my type anyway."

"Not into red heads?" Jackie asked mischievously.

"Not into men," Remy replied. "I already have a dick, I don't need a second one."

"I don't know," said Jackie cheerfully. "I wouldn't mind a pair, might be fun."

Marie stared at Jackie like she was crazy for saying something like that in front of her father.

"Really?" Remy asked. "You like that kind of thing?"

"What?" Jackie asked in return. "Not like you've never been with deux femmes."

"Not in private," Remy replied. "If there's a spa or a game of strip poker involved, then sure, more the merrier. But for actual sex, only ever one."

"Seriously? Huh, weird. I always figured you were into deux at a time."

"Non, I've always preferred quality over quantity."

Marie, who was regarding them both like they'd gone insane, was about to comment when they were directed to the change rooms. They changed into their swimwear, and then came back out again and made themselves at home on the massage tables. The masseurs arrived not long after that, and it was evident that Remy and his female masseur, Tanya, already knew each other.

"Not naked this time?" Tanya asked as she and her colleagues got to work. "I'm a little disappointed."

Remy laughed.

"I thought it was a little inappropriate in front of my daughter," he said.

"Hi," Jackie said, waving.

"Oh, hi," Tanya replied. "Well, perhaps it is at that."

"I'd probably be naked too if Papa wasn't here," Jackie added slyly.

"I'm sure your masseur is just as disappointed as Tanya," Remy said.

"Okay, so just putting my two cents in here," said Marie. "It doesn't matter whether you guys are here or not; I'd still be in a bikini."

"So modest," said Remy. "Fairly novel, isn't it Jackie?"

"Modesty is for the weak," Jackie replied.

"Thanks a lot," Marie said dryly.

"You're welcome."

"If modesty is for the weak," said Remy, "and we've decided to be modest in front of each other...does that make us weak?"

"You're not supposed to use my own words against me," Jackie replied.

"Why not? It's fun."

"And it teaches you to be more discerning about what words you use," Marie added.

"Stop being a—" Jackie began, and then the masseur found a particularly tender place on her back: "Oh hell yes, that's the spot!"

"Oh? You're a screamer are you?" Remy asked innocently.

"Yeah, this is why I don't bring boys home," Jackie replied. "They get embarrassed if you're there at the time, or Maman, if it's her place."

"What the hell?" Marie demanded. "You two are not normal, you realise that, right?"

"What?" Jackie asked.

"Hey, if you were in a normal father/daughter relationship, Jackie would be in denial that her parents ever had sex, and Remy would be convinced that no one had ever touched his innocent baby girl," Marie informed them. "You would not be discussing how you behave in the bedroom."

"Normal is over-rated," Remy replied in dismissal. "With all the sleeping around Belle and I do it was inevitable that Jackie would try experimenting herself. I would much rather that Jackie felt free to talk about it with us, than end up making a stupid mistake that gets her pregnant or infected with some disease. I really don't understand why it's such a taboo subject."

"Marie does have a point though," said Jackie thoughtfully. "If I wasn't the living proof, I'd seriously doubt that you and Maman ever had sex... You know, with each other."

"I would say we all make mistakes, but you are definitely not a mistake."

"Glad to hear it."

"You're both still weird," Marie said.

"We just talk about it," said Jackie. "It's not like we do anything gross like watch each other."

"Yeah, I like public sex, but not _that_ public," Remy added.

"You did it with your mistress at the anniversary when I was five," Jackie pointed out.

"You were off playing with the other kids," Remy replied. "Crystal was wearing a skirt. We just undid my fly, moved her thong out of the way and—"

"I'm not hearing this," said Marie.

"—no one saw a thing, really. I even got the condom on unnoticed; the skirt was one of those loose ones, so that covered everything up just fine," Remy went on as if Marie hadn't said a thing. "We hadn't actually planned on it, but in any case, if you had been with us instead of being off playing with the other kids, we wouldn't have done it. Ahh, I can still remember the look on Belle's face..."

"Yeah, can we not reminisce about you pissing Maman's off?" Jackie asked.

"Désolé, Sunshine."

Marie muttered something about Bizarro World.

After the massage they moved on to have their facials, during which Jackie and Marie felt the need to tease Remy again. Jackie went on to point out that he did wear pink all the time. Remy replied that "only real men wear pink" and Marie got the impression they'd had this conversation before. During the facials they got their hands and feet massaged. Finally, they all relaxed in the jacuzzi.

Remy had to admit, he really liked getting Marie into the jacuzzi. She did have a finely toned, fit body and a curvaceous figure that was shown off quite nicely in her bikini. He would have loved to have feasted her eyes on her for the duration, but he didn't want to make Jackie uncomfortable by blatantly checking out her friend in front of her, so he refrained. He also made a mental note to find an excuse to get Marie alone in a hot tub sometime in the future.

Marie, on the other hand, was trying to avoid looking at Remy. It turned out he was one of those guys that wore speedos, and while she had to admit he had the body to pull it off, it didn't exactly leave a whole lot to the imagination. And there were certain things she didn't want to be imagining about her friend's married father.

Jackie pretended she didn't see her father checking Marie out, although she did admit that he'd been pretty well behaved as far as flirting with his 'girlfriend' was concerned. Jackie didn't think she'd seen Remy touch Marie all day either, so it had been rather easy to feel like today was just Remy treating her and a friend to a day out.

Eventually their visit came to an end. They changed back into their normal clothes, met up again and headed out.

"Well then," Remy said on their way to the parking lot, wondering how he should broach the subject of Marie coming home with him. "Did you girls have a good time?"

"Yep," Jackie replied.

"Definitely," Marie said.

"Great. So, ahh, any plans for the rest of the day?" Remy asked.

"I've gotta pack," said Jackie. "Can't keep our stuff in the dorm over the summer."

"I've done my packing," Marie said. "My friends are picking me up tomorrow afternoon."

"Oh, so you're free tonight then?" Remy asked.

"Papa, just admit you want to steal Marie away for the night," Jackie said sound exasperated.

"Alright," Remy replied. "Marie, I'd like to take you back to my place tonight. That okay with you?"

"Yeah, I got nothing better to do," Marie said with a smirk.

"Good, and now that that's out of the way," said Jackie, turning to Marie: "I'll see you tomorrow before you leave."

"Great," Marie said, smiling. "Have a good night."

"I will, and Papa?" Jackie said, now closing the distance to her father. "I had a good day, and I appreciate you not...doing stuff I don't want to hear or see you do with Marie in front of me."

Remy chuckled. "I wish it didn't bother you so much, Sunshine, but I'm glad you had a good day."

Jackie gave him a hug. "I'll see you later."

Remy kissed her forehead. "That you will."

Jackie pulled away, gave them a final wave and headed to her car. Marie moved in beside Remy and walked with him to his.

"By the way, chère," Remy said conversationally as he opened the car door for her. "Has anyone ever told you that you look hot in a bikini?"

Marie laughed and sat down.

"You've been wanting to say that to me all day," she said as he closed the door again.

"Oui," Remy replied, getting into the car himself. "And if Jackie wasn't still in the parking lot right now, I'd have my tongue so far down your throat I'd be able to taste your breakfast."

"Yeah, that's pleasant imagery," Marie replied dryly.

"Glad you think so."

The trip back to Remy's home was largely eventless. However, once Remy had parked in the garage, he prevented Marie from getting out of the car as soon as his hands were free by capturing her waist and her lips. He didn't quite put his tongue in far enough to "taste her breakfast", but it went it deep enough to shock Marie.

Of course, the front seat of a car isn't exactly the most comfortable place to make out, so it wasn't long before Remy let her go again. He wasted very little time opening up the door to the house. As soon as Marie was inside, he had her pressed against the wall as he kissed her again, kicked the door closed, and was running his hands over the pre-approved places of her body. Although initially a little surprised by his enthusiasm (she usually got a little more notice), Marie kissed him back, capturing his face in her hands. He moved his lips from hers and began kissing down her neck.

"Oh right, they shaved you when you got the facial, didn't they?" Marie said once her mouth was available for speaking.

"Mmmhmm."

That explained why his face felt unusually smooth and soft. Marie's hands drifted down to his chest and then wrapped around him instead. Remy evidentially noticed her silence, for he looked up from his kissing long enough to catch her eyes.

"You like?" he asked her curiously.

"It's okay," Marie replied, and looked away shyly. "I just umm… I kind of like stubble."

"Oh yeah?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "I usually get complaints about it feeling like sandpaper."

"Yeah, well, my friends all think I'm crazy," Marie admitted ruefully. "I guess I just like the texture. And I know that sounds really weird after you've just made a comment about it feeling like sandpaper, but yeah."

Remy chuckled.

"I like my men to feel like men, and not like baby bottoms," Marie added.

Remy kissed her then, long and hard, and hoped that she wouldn't realise she'd just referred to him as her man.

"I want you," he said softly.

"I'm sorry, sugar," Marie replied. "But you can't have me."

"You realise that by saying that, it makes me want you all the more, right?"

"Glutton for punishment, are we?"

"Possibly."

* * *

><p>"There's something different about you," Kitty said the next day as Marie boarded the Blackbird with her big bag slung over her shoulder.<p>

"It's called hard work," Marie replied jokingly. "Hey guys."

"Hey," Bobby greeted.

Kitty blew raspberries at her. Marie chuckled as she sat down and the ramp began to rise.

"Actually Jackie and I went to the spa yesterday," Marie said.

"Oh, that would have been fun," Kitty said.

"Yeah it was," Marie replied with a nod. "Wow, I can't believe college is over for another year. So, how have you guys been?"

"Okay," Bobby said as the Blackbird lifted off. "Hey, ahh, when we get back, there's someone I want you to meet."

"Bobby got a girlfriend," Kitty said, grinning.

"Well I had to start dating again sometime," Bobby said cheerfully. "Couldn't go pining after Marie for the rest of my life."

"Drats, there goes my plan to leave a string of broken hearts behind me," Marie teased.

"Bwahaha, foiled!" Bobby replied.

A few days later, Marie, Kitty, Jubilee and Piotr, amongst others, were hanging out at the pool when Bobby arrived hand in hand with a young Japanese woman. Marie got out of the pool when she noticed the pair walking towards them in their own swimmers and towels.

"Hey," Marie greeted.

"Hey," Bobby said. "This is my girlfriend, Opal. Opal, this is, umm..."

"I'm Marie," Marie said, holding out her hand to Opal. "Technically, I'm Bobby's ex, but we decided we like 'friend' better."

Opal laughed and clasped Marie's hand lightly and briefly. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Marie replied.

"Well, that was painless," said Bobby, sounding relieved.

"What did you think was going to happen, Bobby?" Marie asked. "We were going to start fighting over you?"

Bobby paused and took a moment to deliberately look over both women in their bikinis.

"On second thoughts, that sounds like a good idea," he said with a slight smile.

Marie and Opal looked at each other, then back at Bobby, and—without a word required between them—pushed Bobby into the pool.

* * *

><p>Remy carefully and quietly lowered himself down from the glass ceiling on a rope by way of his multi-purpose, extendible staff. As he neared the display case, he twisted himself upside down, tangling his legs and feet up in the rope in order to free his hands. He tapped a button on his staff when he'd gone down far enough.<p>

Remy pressed a suction cup to the top of the display case, then charged up a neat square near the edges of the top. The charge exploded, and by holding the suction cup, Remy was able to stop any unnecessary glass shattering. He moved the glass out of the way, put his suction cup back into his pocket and then looked at the Ming vase inside.

At its narrowest point, the Ming vase was tightly circled by a number of infrared beams. The average thief would not be able to remove the vase without setting off the alarm, not matter which direction they moved it. Remy reached down and lifted the vase right out, tripping every single beam. It was a good thing he had disabled the alarm system earlier.

Remy tapped a second button on his staff, causing him to rise. He twisted himself back up, although he still supported the bulk of his weight with his legs. Once he was back at the roof, he put the vase into the prepared case, lifted himself onto the roof, packed up his things and climbed back down the fire escape to leave the premises.

* * *

><p>Marie wandered into the gym where a number of students who were staying at Xavier's over the summer were doing some training under Logan's eye.<p>

"Hey," she said, wandering over to Logan. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yeah," he said, and then gestured to a student Marie didn't recognise. "I want you to spar with Thunderbird over there. Warm up and let me know when you're ready."

"Okay."

Marie moved off to the side to warm up for the fight. While she did her stretches, she watched her opponent discreetly. There was a slight blur as he moved, something that suggested enhanced speed. He didn't seemed to be sweating very much either, although that didn't always mean anything. Marie wasn't familiar with Thunderbird's opponent either, but he was definitely sweaty and seemed to be making a point trying to dodge Thunderbird. The few offensive moves he made were unsuccessful.

When Marie was ready, Logan called the match to an end. The two boys bowed to each other as Logan had taught them, and then the second boy left for the showers.

"Thunderbird," said Logan. "This is Rogue."

Marie gave Thunderbird a nod as she stepped on the mat. For someone who had just been sparring only a moment ago, his breathing was pretty steady.

"Go."

Marie and Thunderbird bowed to each other, and then Marie launched straight into the offensive. Thunderbird was fast enough to counter most of her blows, but Marie was able to get through a number of times by feinting or by using some more advanced techniques he probably hadn't been taught yet.

Evidentially, Thunderbird wasn't used to people getting past his defences, because he switched to the offensive and landed a blow on Marie that sent her flying right off the mats, winded. Marie gasped for breath. Thunderbird walked over uncertainly.

"Sorry," he said, holding out his hand to her. "Sometimes I don't—"

Marie didn't let him finish his apology. She took his hand as if accepting his help up, but then pulled him down, and slid to the side just soon enough to escape him falling on her. Thunderbird's reaction time was such that he was able to break his fall, but Marie was on her feet before he had a chance to get up as well. Marie made a point of keeping him on the floor with a series of blows, primarily kicks, and all Thunderbird could do was roll out of the way.

Finally Thunderbird had an opening. He grabbed her foot and spun her around. Marie caught herself and was able to land on both feet, but it gave Thunderbird the chance he needed to stand. Somehow, in the flurry of blows from both sides that followed, the two made their way back to the original mat.

After Thunderbird hit the floor twice more, Logan called the match to an end. Marie and Thunderbird bowed to each other and then turned to Logan, both of them sweaty and breathing heavily after their exercise. Marie was rather pleased she managed to give Thunderbird a work out. He did have a physical advantage over her, but she had the advantages of experience and technique.

"What powers does Thunderbird have?" Logan asked Marie.

Marie raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question.

"Super speed, strength and stamina," she replied, glanced over at Thunderbird with a slight frown and added: "And probably enhanced senses as well."

A look of surprise appeared on Thunderbird's face as he looked between Marie and Logan.

"How'd you pick the senses?" asked Logan.

"It's hard to say exactly," Marie replied after a moment's pause. "People with enhanced senses handle themselves differently. It's not any one detail that gives them away."

"Alright," said Logan. "Thunderbird—"

"I have no idea what powers she has," Thunderbird said.

"Actually, Rogue's powerless," Logan replied.

Thunderbird threw Marie a startled look. She just smiled faintly.

"What I was going to say, was that you have to remember to pull your punches," Logan went on sternly. "I know the super strength is new to you, but you can cause some serious damage to people that way."

"I know," Thunderbird replied, looking shamefaced down at the floor.

"Oh, and apology accepted," Marie said, giving Thunderbird a grin.

Logan grunted and then sent the two on their way, after advising Marie to drop in at the med lab to get checked over, just to make sure that Thunderbird's extra-strong blow hadn't done any damage that wasn't immediately evident. Thunderbird and Marie were not long out of the gym when Storm approached.

"How'd it go?" asked Storm.

"Not exactly how I expected," Logan replied. "Someone's been teaching her how to fight dirty."

"Oh? Someone usurping your prerogative?" Storm asked, sounding amused.

"I don't teach kids how to fight dirty in the dojo," Logan said firmly.

Storm paused for a moment and realised that was true. In the danger room with battle simulations, Logan was a full supporter of dirty fighting. In the martial arts classes, Logan made a serious point of passing on the respect and honourable standards that had been taught to him.

"I stand corrected," she said. "Aside from that?"

"Her power analysis was spot-on, but as far as I can tell, no absorption took place," Logan said.

"Hmm," Storm considered. "That might not mean a whole lot though, at least not in this case. Jean and the Professor worked with her very heavily on assessing the powers and abilities of others without relying on physical contact as a kind of preparation for absorbing them. I know she didn't have any formal lessons on the subject after that, but that doesn't mean she can't have continued to teach herself."

"Well, all we can do is continue to push her. The training won't do her any harm."

"We could always tell her."

Logan shook his head. "I know you were pushing for that, 'Ro, but even you agreed at the time it was better we kept quiet and take a more subtle approach."

"To be honest, I'm still surprised _you_ agreed to take the subtle approach," Storm replied.

Logan pulled out his cigar and lit it. "I can be plenty subtle when I want to be."

* * *

><p>Jackie glanced down the hall to her friend and fellow Thief, Sy, who was busy getting past the security door. Sy caught her eyes and gave a slight nod. Silently, Jackie slunk down the hall to Sy, who opened up the door. Jackie stepped through first, her eyes automatically scanned the room and laid on the sole occupant of the lab. While Sy all but completely shut the door, Jackie lifted her tranquilizer gun, shot and a dark hit the large, badly over-weight man in the back on the neck. Jackie and Sy moved quickly and silently down and out of view while they waited for the drug to take effect. A heavy thud on the floor was their cue to stand once more, and Sy now let the door click shut.<p>

They both froze then, hearing footsteps in the hall. They both pressed themselves against the wall on the hinge-side of the door, knowing this was the expected security on their patrol. The guard never tested or otherwise tried to open the door, and it was only when they were sure he had passed that Sy spoke:

"You need to be more careful with those darts, Jackie," he said as he looked around for the vault. "You could have caused an earthquake."

Jackie smirked as she trotted over to her victim, laying eagle-spread on the floor.

"I'm just glad it worked," she said. "I wonder if I should give him a second one? Those darts are intended for people half his size."

"Only half?" Sy asked jokingly as he located the vault door, tucked away in a corner of the room.

Jackie snickered and pulled out a second dart. She didn't want him waking up too soon.

"Oh merde," Sy said as Jackie injected the fat man.

"That's not something I like hearing on a job," Jackie said coolly.

"They've upgraded security," Sy reported, regarding the vault door with much irritation. "We need fingerprint and retina."

"Lardass here probably has access," Jackie said.

Sy turned around and pulled a face, looking at the man on the floor.

"Désolé, chère," he said, "mais, I think it'll take more than just the deux of us to lift him up to eye level."

"Well, I've already given him dose number deux," Jackie replied, looking back at Sy seriously. "He's not waking up any time soon."

"That wouldn't have worked either," said Sy grumpily. "He would have seen and/or heard us."

"So we would have had to kill him afterwards," Jackie said with a shrug. "Probably doing him a favour really, it's either that or heart failure."

Sy blanched and Jackie belatedly remembered that most Thieves—her father included—weren't all that keen on killing people.

"Well, that's not an option now anyway," Sy said, turning back to the vault door. "So I guess we're doing this the hard way."

"Hang on," Jackie said as Sy started pulling out the relevant tools. "I want to try something first."

"S'il tu plaît, don't tell me you're going to cut off his thumb and gouge out his eyeball," Sy said.

"No, this is something else," Jackie said, pulling out a couple of mirrors from one of the pockets in her trench coat. "Although, for the record, that is a perfectly reasonable course of action."

"It is not. The retina decays too fast for one thing."

"I'm sure we can get it to the scanner before then, and even if we don't on the first try, we do have a second eyeball available," Jackie replied mischievously. "Plus it'll be faster than doing it the hard way."

"It's gross."

"Wimp."

"I'm not a wimp," Sy said firmly. "I just prefer my heists to be free of deaths and/or injury."

Jackie chuckled and laid down next to the man on the floor. She held up one mirror so she could see the reflection of the man's eyes in it, and the second mirror so she could see her own eyes.

"Sy? Do me a favour, and open up his eyes for me," Jackie said.

"Oookay," Sy said, wandering over and kneeling down at the man's head. "Why?"

"Told you," Jackie replied as Sy lifted the man's eyelids up. "I'm trying something."

Jackie didn't respond to Sy's further queries as she was too busy studying the man's eyes. She started working an illusion on her own eyes then, carefully altering them so that her reflection matched his reflection. Sy gave a low whistle when he saw what she was doing.

"How do I look?" Jackie asked.

"Pretty good," Sy replied. "But those things scan tiny blood vessels on the retina. I don't think the naked eye can see them."

Jackie shrugged as she sat up. "Doesn't hurt to try."

Jackie then took the man's hand, and created an illusion on her own hand to match. Concentrating on maintaining the illusions, Jackie walked over to the vault door to get her new eyes and fingerprints scanned. Sy was duly impressed when the scan came up positive and the door opened.

"Brilliant," he said, walking over to join her. "I didn't realise your illusions worked on computers as well as the naked eye."

Jackie grinned at him as she pulled the vault door open the whole way.

"There you go," she said. "Man or machine, my illusions don't discriminate. Besides, you know cameras never pick up my real eyes if I get my picture taken with fake ones."

"Oh right," Sy said. "I'd forgotten that."

Conversation ceased then as the pair cleaned out the vault and then made their escape.

* * *

><p>"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Marie! Happy birthday to you!"<p>

Marie laughed as her friends brought out the cake and she blew out the candles, all twenty-one of them. They cheered.

"Thanks," Marie said, grinning at everyone. "Thanks a lot."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Just wanted to add that "sturdiness" is also a power attributed to Thunderbird. However, I figured this power would be harder to identify in a teenage Thunderbird (as opposed to the adult Thunderbird in the comics), and it's likely that neither Thunderbird, nor the X-men are currently aware of it.

Opal is comic canon.

S'il tu plaît = Please (informal)

And yes, I realise I just had a year go by in two chapters. I was glossing over all the vast amounts of time that Rogue and Gambit weren't seeing each other, heh.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

When Marie arrived at her dorm on the first day back, she was surprised to find a bouquet of flowers sitting on a vase on her desk. From the looks of things, Jackie had already moved in and Marie could guess who the flowers were from. The note attached confirmed it. Marie almost felt like swooning at the short, but sweet romantic poem that was enclosed and smiled at Remy's request for her to call him when she knew what her schedule was like.

"Mushy, isn't it?"

Marie jumped and then turned around to see Jackie behind her. She hadn't even heard her room mate come in.

"Heh, yeah," Marie said. "But it's sweet."

"Hmph," Jackie snorted with contempt. "Anyone would think Papa actually had feelings for you."

Marie paused. "You don't think so?"

"Deux words," Jackie said, holding up two fingers. "Trophy girlfriend."

"Yeah, I guess," Marie said with a shrug.

Jackie jumped onto her bed, hip first.

"What?" Jackie asked. "You think he might actually like you like that?"

"To be honest, sugar, I have no idea," Marie replied. "Trophy girlfriend makes as much sense as anything else."

"Well, I've always assumed his own interest in you was that," Jackie said. "He did originally use you to get on Maman's nerves. Although I suppose it is possible Papa's trying to seduce you. He does like a challenge and you have blatantly refused to sleep with him."

"Well, if that's the case, then he's going to fail miserably," Marie said determinedly. "I don't care what state your parents' marriage is in, I'm not sleeping with someone else's man."

"Good for you," Jackie replied. "I myself, have decided never to get married. Okay, sure, I do have to push out an heir sometime, but I just need a donor, not a husband for that."

"Well, I guess I can understand why you wouldn't want to get married," Marie said, turning to where she'd left her bag on the floor. "I want to get married though."

"Why?"

"Because I want to have that special someone I can grow old with," she said while she unpacked her bag. "I want to be in love. I want someone to share my life with."

"You are aware that only fifty percent of marriages actually do last 'till death do you part', and some of those deaths are murders instigated by their husband or wife?" Jackie asked. "Also, true love is a myth."

Marie raised an eyebrow at that last comment.

"As I said, I can understand why you don't want to get married," Marie replied. "I do have one question though."

"Yeah?"

"You've got a really good relationship with your dad. Were you planning on letting your kid have a relationship with his or her dad too?"

Jackie was silent for a moment.

"You know," Jackie said slowly. "I hadn't really thought about it."

"Well, you might want to," Marie said, opening up a drawer to stuff some of her clothes in. "And unless you go to a sperm bank, then whoever you ask to father your child may or may not have an interest in being a part of their kid's life too. Plus, that would have the added benefit—depending on the arrangement of course—of helping you raise your kid too."

"Eh," Jackie said. "I just want to concentrate on college right now. I'll work out the details of my scheme to provide and raise an heir later."

Marie chuckled.

* * *

><p>Remy wasted little time in organising a date with Marie, and on the night he took her out for dinner.<p>

"There you go," Marie said when the waiter departed after taking their order, which included a couple of glasses of wine, "you didn't need to bribe the waiter this time."

Remy gave a melodramatic sigh. "I know."

"Aww, is Wemy disappointed 'cause he got no bwibery or cowwuption with his evening meal?" Marie teased him.

"Oui," Remy replied.

"Poor baby."

"I may just have to corrupt you instead."

"I've already been plenty corrupted by you, thank you very much."

"You're welcome."

* * *

><p>For the October date, Remy picked up Marie on his motorcycle. He remembered that she'd previously enjoyed going joyriding with him. Afterwards, they stopped for a night picnic on a building top, a different one this time.<p>

As they danced together to the music he'd brought, he relished the feel of Marie in his arms.

* * *

><p>Remy seriously considered taking Marie back to the day spa for their November date, but decided against it almost at the last minute. Going do the spa would mean a day time date, which meant that Marie may have grounds to get out of spending the night with him. Instead he took her out for dinner and a movie. Sure he missed out on seeing her in a bikini, but he ruefully admitted it was probably better that way.<p>

* * *

><p>Remy looked around the mall with a great deal of satisfaction. It was crowded with people doing their Christmas shopping, and amongst them were a number of thieves from the United Guilds looking to do a bit of 'shopping' of their own. Remy rather enjoyed picking pockets in malls; the security cameras added a bit of adventure to it.<p>

Santa Claus was seated in the middle of the mall, like he did every year, with a string of little kids (and a few big kids) all looking to get their photo taken. Assisting him were a couple of elves, one with the camera, and the other managing the line. Initially, Remy paid this display no mind, being far more interested in the crowd. Still, in his search for good opportunities to steal, he did come closer. He caught a glimpse of the photo costs and, after another look at the long line, wondered if there was a way to rip them off.

While Remy was pondering this, his eyes fell on the elf managing the line. She was wearing a dark green mini dress and hat, both trimmed with thick, fluffy, white bands at the base of the hat, the hem of her skirt and around her sleeves, much like Santa's costume was, with an additional band around the collar. She wore a pair of green shoes with outlandish curled toes, and a pair of green tights. Remy's lips curled into a smile as he got a good look at her face. Unable to resist the urge, he walked up to the front of the line.

"Bonjour chérie," he said.

Marie looked at Remy like a deer caught in headlights.

"I'm sorry, sir," she said. "But if you want your photo taken with Santa, you'll just have to join the end of the line."

"Yeah," added the little boy at the front of the line.

"What if I wanted my photo taken with you?" Remy asked.

"Sorry but there is no 'get your photo taken with an elf' line," Marie replied, then knelt over to address the little boy. "Okay sugar, it's your turn now."

"So," said Remy while the little boy ran off happily to Santa, "do you get to keep the dress?"

"No, and if you don't mind, I'm working," Marie replied tersely.

"When do you finish?"

"Not for another couple of hours."

"I'll see you in another couple of hours then."

* * *

><p>Marie gave a gasp of surprise when she emerged from the staff rooms to walk straight into Remy. He caught her before she could fall back, and grinned at her.<p>

"How was work?" he asked.

"Exhausting," Marie replied irritably. "I'd like to go home now, if you don't mind."

"Want a lift? Or have you already arranged something?"

Marie hesitated. "Actually, I was just going to take a cab."

"Oh no," Remy said, taking her hand and kissing it fondly. "We can't have you spending your hard earned money so soon, especially not on a cab. I insist."

"I had a feeling you'd say that."

"I just have to get something first."

"Okay," Marie replied. "And just out of curiosity; you've been here for hours, how come you didn't get it earlier?"

"I was working too," Remy said slyly.

"But you're a..." Marie began, and then realised what he meant. "Oh."

"Are you going to ask me how my day went?" he asked with a grin.

"No, I really don't want to know how many Christmases you've ruined today."

Remy chuckled, let go of her hand and wrapped it around her waist instead.

"Petty theft is petty," he said. "This won't take long."

Marie reluctantly let Remy lead her along. It was strange, she'd known what business Jackie and Remy had been in for a while now, yet this was the first time she'd really been confronted with what they did. She was so lost in thought that she nearly jumped when she heard Remy say "Belle!" in surprise. She looked up to see Bella Donna standing in front of them with a couple of bags in her hands.

"Remy," Bella Donna replied with disdain, then shifted her eyes over to his companion and added: "Bonjour Marie. Haven't you found anything better yet?"

"Oh well, umm," Marie said, trying to think of a way to not offend either party. "We all have our guilty pleasures, I guess."

She did not like this. She didn't like being the mistress of a man who made his living off other people's misery, and she certainly didn't like being caught between him and his wife, who made her living by keeping the funeral business in prime working order.

"Oh I like that," said Remy. "Hear that, Belle? I'm a guilty pleasure. I'd say that puts me right up there with chocolate and we all know how you femmes love chocolate."

"Of course," Bella Donna replied. "But white chocolate isn't really chocolate, Remy."

"I'm so sorry your toy boys don't consider you a guilty pleasure."

"That's because I'm a guilt_less _pleasure."

"I always suspected you didn't have a soul."

"As entertaining as this little conversation is," Bella Donna said loftily, "I have to finish getting presents for the _important_ people in my life."

"I'd rather like to get going myself," Marie said, more to Remy than to Bella Donna. "I've been on my feet all day."

"Of course, ma chère," Remy said, and gave Marie a quick kiss. "We shall be on our way."

Remy looked back up at Bella Donna. "See you Monday."

"Unfortunately."

Remy turned his back on Bella Donna, and still holding Marie close, began walking off.

"What did you need to get?" Marie asked.

"I just need to pick up my suit from the dry cleaners," Remy replied.

"Where's that?"

"The other direction."

Irritated at the idea of being on her feet longer than she wanted, it was all Marie could do to stop from snapping at Remy when Bella Donna was still so close by. "Then why are we going in this one?"

"Because Victoria's Secret is just there," Remy said.

Marie got it. He wanted to use her to irritate Bella Donna again.

"I'm not going in there with you," Marie said.

"Relax, chère," said Remy. "We'll just go in long enough for her to pass, and then come out again."

Unfortunately, things didn't go exactly to plan. Not only did Bella Donna follow them, but she went inside the store as well. Looking for a 'Christmas present' for her current beau, she said. Remy made a comment about her boyfriend wanting to feel pretty by wearing women's underwear. He didn't anticipate the furious expression on Marie's face, and was grateful that her back was to Bella Donna where his wife couldn't see it.

"Désolé," he said softly into her ear. "I didn't know she'd come in here."

"I have been dealing with annoying little kids and their stupid parents all day, and my feet are killing me," Marie said tersely. "I should have taken the cab."

"How does a foot massage sound?" he asked.

"Itsounds great. The problem is I'm _still walking around_."

"Alright then," Remy said, looking at the racks right in front of him. "What size are you?"

Anger gave way to horror.

"You're not buying me underwear," Marie hissed at him.

"There are chairs in the changing rooms," Remy replied under his breath, "and Belle's expecting me to anyway. Let's pick something real quick, you can take it in there and sit down. You don't even need to try it on."

"Then why do you need my size?"

"Because under normal circumstances, you wouldn't just be trying on one thing, not shopping here with me, and Belle knows that," Remy replied as he went through the racks. "First hand experience."

"Fine," Marie said irritably.

She told him her size. Remy pulled something out and then followed her to the change room, just so he would know which one she was in. Marie shut the curtain, put the offending underwear up on the hook, and then gratefully sat down on the seat. She pulled her legs up with her, closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall. All she wanted to do was go home, and instead she was sitting in a change room with a pink lace bustier.

She never should have gotten involved with him. He was a crook who entertained himself by cheating on and otherwise aggravating his wife. She should have just let the Cure wear off.

Remy returned and passed through a few more items; a blue halter babydoll that was sheer from the ribcage down, a black push-up bra with matching briefs, and a red garter belt. Marie tried not to freak out that a man almost twice her age was picking out lingerie for her. After all, she had been tongue-kissing and sharing a bed with this same man.

"Chère?" he said softly. "Umm, we may have a problem."

"May have?" Marie repeated.

"Belle looks like she's going to be here awhile. If you wanted to leave sooner rather than later, you might have to pick something."

"You have got to be kidding me."

"Is there anything in particular you'd like me to get?"

"Oh, you do not want to ask me that question," Marie replied menacingly.

There was silence and then: "I'll just wait here while you decide."

Marie eyed the clothing in irritation, then reluctantly started to undress. If she had to get something, she may as well make sure it fit.

She was in the process of trying on the bra when she heard Bella Donna in the hallway:

"Why Remy," she said. "I'm surprised you're not in there with her."

"Honestly, Belle," Remy replied. "All you ever think about is sex."

Marie stifled a groan. No, she was absolutely not going to deal with any more of this.

"Remy, sugar," Marie said, sliding her hand out between the frame and the curtain and holding the garter belt. "Would you mind seeing if you can find this in black? I'll be out in a minute."

"Delighted, chère," Remy replied.

Marie was pretty sure that Remy and Bella Donna had said something more after he took the garter belt from Remy, but whatever it was, she couldn't make it out. Marie dressed quickly, gathered up the clothes and left the changing room. She found Remy heading back in her direction with the black garter belt and a pair of stockings to go with it.

"Have you decided?" he asked.

Marie smiled sweetly and handed him the pile.

"Yes," she said. "I'll take all of it."

* * *

><p>"All of them?" Remy asked once they'd finally made it to his car and were on their way home. "You really had to get all of them?"<p>

"Yep," Marie replied coldly. "I figured you probably envisioned me in something in particular which you probably gave to me, and since I can't be completely certain where your tastes lie...all of them."

"Uh huh. I'm not going to see you in it, am I?"

"I told you from day one you're not going to see me in my underwear. If you don't like the way things turned out, then that's your own damned fault."

"Look," Remy said impatiently, frowning as he drove, "if I had known that that's where Belle was going, I would have just gone straight to the dry cleaners."

"I really don't care what you would have done," Marie snapped at him. "I've had a long day. I'm going to continue to have long days, just like today, every single blasted day until Christmas Eve. The last thing I was in the mood for was being put in the middle of your stupid little war with your wife. Which, by the way, is clearly ridiculous! You obviously still love the woman, or you wouldn't go to such pains to irritate her."

"Well, maybe I don't care if you were in the mood for it or not," Remy replied angrily. "The whole point of dating you in the first place was to infuriate Belle. Deal with it."

"We were not supposed to be on a date today, but you know what? I'm thinking I might just count it as one!"

"This was not a date!"

"Well, it was something! Because I did not just let you buy me lingerie for the fun of it!"

"You're my girlfriend. Getting random gifts like lingerie is one of the perks."

"One of the perks?" Marie repeated. "Today was a _perk_? I'll show you a perk, you arrogant, over-dressed, self-absorbed, selfish prick!"

"Over-dressed?" Remy exclaimed.

"_Of course_ that would be the only one you'd pick out of that list," Marie replied cynically.

"Hey, I'll admit to all the others, but I am not over-dressed," Remy retorted sharply. "But since it's bothering you so much, allow me to strip off."

Despite the fact that he was driving, Remy started taking off his trench coat.

"Don't be ridiculous," Marie snapped at him.

Remy ignored her, and after getting the coat down off his shoulders, he lifted himself up enough to pull the trench coat out from underneath and then threw it at Marie.

"What the hell?" Marie objected.

But Remy was already unbuttoning his vest.

"You are really immature."

The vest hit the floor and Remy started on his shirt.

"You're not serious?" Marie demanded when he still didn't reply. "There's such a thing as under-dressed as well."

Remy pulled off his shirt, and almost immediately goose bumps began to form on his arms.

"You've made your point already!"

But Remy continued to ignore her protests. His undershirt came off next, and his nipples hardened in the cold.

"It's December, you moron! What are you trying to do? Give yourself hypothermia?"

The gloves came off next and then they had to stop at a red light. A female passenger in the car next to them looked over with interest while Remy lifted his feet up one at a time to take off his boots. She wound down the window and wolf-whistled. Marie groaned and buried her face in her hand. Remy just smirked.

It was perfect timing, no sooner than his socks had come off, but the lights turned green again. Remy undid his belt buckle and slid his belt out of the loops.

"Would you stop that and concentrate on driving?"

His fly came undone.

"I don't want to see that!"

Remy wriggled around a bit, trying to pull his pants down while still sitting on them.

"Are you trying to cause an accident? Stop it!"

In his efforts to get his pants down, Remy almost missed the turn, and swerved around at the last second. His pants had finally made it around his behind and Remy was now able to slide them down his legs.

They turned into the driveway then, and Remy let his pants stay around his knees (a pair of boxers were the only things between the cold air and his nether regions) while they pulled into the garage.

Remy pulled his pants off the rest of the way, then got out of the car and opened up the door to the house. Marie stormed by him and made a beeline for the lounge chair. Her legs went up over one of the arms and she leaned against the other one. The three-seater lounge would have been more comfortable than the single she was on, but she did not want Remy to decide to join her.

"Get up," Remy told her, when she'd not being draped there two seconds yet.

"Screw you," Marie retorted.

Remy stormed over to her and unceremoniously picked her up bridal style. Marie's cry was just of alarm was just as much from surprise as it was from being held against his cold, naked chest with his cold, naked arms.

"Is this supposed to be one of the perks, too?" she demanded. "Put me down!"

Remy didn't reply as he carried her carefully up the stairs, and it was only because they were on the stairs that Mare didn't try wriggling out of his grip.

"Put me down now!" Marie said, as soon as they entered the hallway.

"I thought you wanted to get off your feet," Remy replied evenly.

Marie glowered at him and started deliberately making herself a dead weight.

"That wasn't an invitation to carry me around."

Remy grunted at the weight redistribution and somehow managed to open up the bathroom door with his hand under her knees. He pushed the door open and sat Marie down on the counter top and then pulled a box out of the cupboard. Marie was somewhat puzzled: she had expected Remy to take her to his bedroom.

"Just what the hell do you think you're—" she began.

"Pick one," Remy replied, not quite ramming the box into her.

Marie stared after Remy as he departed. Curiosity got the better of her, and she looked inside the box to find it filled with different varieties of bubble bath, bath salts, oils, body lotion, shower gel and a couple of loofahs still in their packets. The object of her displeasure no longer being in the room for her to yell at, she started going through the box, and pulled out a couple of things she thought sounded nice.

Remy returned with a towel and the nightgown and bed shorts she kept at his place. Marie scowled at him, but without a word, Remy slung these over the bar, then started running the bath. He put in the bath salts and a generous amount of bubble bath. Without looking at Marie, he said "enjoy" and then left the bathroom, not quite slamming the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Marie wasn't certain how she'd gone from an argument to a nice, relaxing bubble bath, but she wasn't complaining. She loved having bubble baths, but unfortunately the dorm didn't have a bath, so she'd only been able to have baths over the summer when she was at Xaviers.<p>

After a good long soak, Marie reluctantly got out of the bath. She patted herself dry and then picked out one of the available moisturisers. Remy sure did have a lot to choose from. Marie tried not to think about how this was probably because of the many women he had coming into his house. She dressed and made her way downstairs, feeling much more relaxed and a lot less achy than she'd been feeling an hour ago.

Remy was in the kitchen, stirring a pot over the stove. He had since put pants back on, and was wearing a plain shirt and an apron that said "kiss the chef". He tapped the spoon on the side of the pot, then placed it on the bench, turned and smiled when he saw Marie.

"Feeling better?" he asked.

"Much," Marie replied awkwardly as she sat down on the bar stool. "What's cooking?"

"Jambalaya. It's got at least another twenty minutes," Remy said.

"Sounds nice."

"Also, you're staying tonight," he went on. "That settles the date issue. I'll give you a ride in the morning."

Marie bit back a comment about him being a presumptuous jerk, and instead said: "Well, I should let Jackie know. She was expecting me back by now."

"You do that."

There was a pause, and then Marie asked: "Where's my bag?"

"In the bedroom."

"Okay, thanks."

Marie just told Jackie that Remy had picked her up from the mall and she was staying overnight. Knowing how much Jackie hated that her parents fought, Marie left out the incident with Bella Donna. Besides, Marie really didn't want to admit that Remy had bought her lingerie.

Remy called for her when dinner was ready and Marie joined him at the kitchen bench to eat. He'd pulled out a wine for them to have as well.

Dinner was a little strained, for the time apart hadn't entirely taken away the sting of their previous fight.

"How come you're working as an elf anyway?" Remy asked after awhile.

Marie shrugged. "On break until mid-January and I could do with the work. I've got something lined up for after Christmas as well. I'd prefer something in engineering—that would look better on a resume—but everything nearby has already been taken up by other students with the same idea."

"What are you doing for Christmas?"

"Well," Marie replied after swallowing a mouthful of food, "there's a Southern Baptist church not too far away, so I'll probably go there for the Christmas service and then bum around at home for the rest of the day."

"No friends or family to spend the day with?" Remy asked.

"Not really," Marie said. "I mean, I have been invited back to Xavier's over Christmas, but most of my friends will be visiting their families and for such a short amount of time it just doesn't seem worth the trip. Much better to visit everyone over summer—most of them are still there then, and it's a much longer period of time. Besides, we can't stay in the dorms over the summer break anyway. What about you? What are your plans?"

Remy shrugged. "I got nothing on until dinner, when I'll be having ma famille over. And by that I mean, Jackie, Henri, Mercy and Louis," he said. "Jackie's going to be having lunch with Belle."

Marie nodded and scooped up some more rice on her fork.

"Did you want to come over on Christmas?" Remy asked suddenly.

"What?" Marie asked, giving him a startled look.

"Well, it's gotta beat being alone," he said. "Not to mention more comfortable than your dorm room. Come on, chère, have lunch with me. We can get cosy in front of the TV and watch Christmas specials."

Marie smiled. "I'll think about it."

"Not the resounding 'yes' I was looking for," Remy replied with a slight smirk, "but it'll have to do, I guess."

Marie was quiet for a moment and then said: "If I say yes, you're not going to feel obligated to get me something, are you?"

"It's Christmas, chère, of course I am," he replied. "For that matter, how do you know I haven't already got you something?"

"I just, I... I'm not comfortable with you buying me things."

"Why?"

"Well, because I'm supposed to be paying off a debt to you," Marie said, looking back down at her plate, "you know, by dating you."

"Told you," Remy replied, a seriousness behind his playful tone, "gifts are a perk."

"I don't like feeling like I'm running up more debt," Marie said, mixing up some more of the stew with the rice.

"I get a few perks as well, you know," Remy said. "I get to make out with a beautiful young woman, and take her to my bed. I don't get to have sex with her, which kind of sucks, but she's not a bad kisser and she's feisty."

Marie cracked a smile.

"You make wonderful company, ma chérie," he went on, looking at her fondly. "Any man would be lucky to have you."

He caught her chin with his fingers and leaned in to kiss her. Marie closed her eyes briefly as he sat back again.

"And I guess another perk is annoying your wife," she said matter-of-factly.

Remy glared at her. "You have no right to judge me."

"You obviously still love her—"

"Of course I still love her! She was the first woman I ever loved, my best friend, hell I even knew her before I was adopted," Remy exclaimed. "I will always care about her, but I'm sure as hell not in love with her any more, and I don't even like her all that much. I can't even look at her any more without it hurting. So until you're stabbed in the back by the person you love more than anyone else in the world, you can keep your damned mouth shut."

"I'm sorry," Marie said with sincerity. "I wasn't trying to criticise—"

Remy snorted in disbelief.

"—I was just making an observation. You've already told me you're beyond reconciliation and why you can't divorce and I... I guess I'm still uncomfortable about dating a married man regardless of the circumstances. And I hate being used as a pawn in your fight, okay? It wouldn't be so bad, except that for Jackie's sake if no one else's I would prefer not to make an enemy of Bella Donna," Marie said. "I don't want to be caught in the middle like I was today, trying to think of things to say that aren't going to offend either of you."

Remy let out a breath and clicked his tongue for a moment.

"I didn't consider that," he said finally. "Of course, you wouldn't want to alienate Jackie's mère. Alright, I'm not going to promise that I won't use you—use our relationship—to annoy Belle, but I'll try to avoid putting you in direct confrontations. And if a confrontation is inevitable, I'll try to divert it."

"I'd appreciate it."

After dinner, they moved to the living room. Remy put on a movie and then sat down on the lounge and got Marie to lie down so he could massage her feet. When he was done with the massage, he laid down behind her on the lounge and wrapped his arm around her waist, drawing her close. Marie turned her head and smiled at him.

"Thanks, sugar," she said softly.

"You're welcome."

Then, to Remy's surprise, Marie kissed him. It was short and sweet, and afterwards Marie turned her head back to the TV, but Remy was thrilled. Any other time Marie kissed him, she needed to be prompted. This was the first time he hadn't even hinted at the idea. This meant that there was a chance for them, right?

Determined not to upset things, Remy took care to make sure he didn't accidentally touch her somewhere she didn't want to be touched. This wasn't quite as easy as it seemed, not when she was only wearing her nightclothes and just felt so good to hold. She smelt good too, and Remy made a mental note of the scent she used so he could make sure he kept it in good supply in the bathroom.

Marie giggled at something that happened in the movie and Remy smiled. He loved that sound. Then he wondered if he might be just a little infatuated with her. If he was, it was her own fault for being so evasive and only giving him the barest taste of her each time they met. While Remy was all for savouring a good thing, this felt more like drawing out the suspense so long it was becoming painful. Clearly, once a month wasn't enough. Her current job gave him the perfect starting point, but he would definitely have to find a way to ensure more interactions outside of their official dates every month.

* * *

><p>"Okay chère," said Remy, as he pulled up to the mall to drop Marie off. "Have a good day."<p>

"I'll try," Marie replied tolerantly.

She started to get out of the car when Remy started making a whimpering noise. She turned her head to look at him.

"I don't get a kiss goodbye?" he asked.

Marie smirked, leaned over and kissed his lips gently.

"Have a good day," she said.

"I shall," Remy said as Marie got out of the car. "What time do you finish?"

"Same as yesterday, why?"

"I'll be there to pick you up," he replied, and then took off before Marie could protest.

* * *

><p>If Marie hoped to avoid Remy after her day was over, she was disappointed. Remy was there, ready and waiting outside the staff door when she emerged.<p>

"Oh...hi," she said.

"Bonjour," he replied, and took it upon himself to kiss her lips softly before taking her hand.

"You didn't need to pick me up," Marie said.

"Don't be silly, chère," Remy said, leading her towards the parking lot. "What's the point of having a boyfriend with a car if you don't take advantage?"

"Well, I really should go back to the dorm, Remy," Marie said firmly. "I'm not going back to your place tonight."

"That's fine. Did you have a ride for tomorrow morning?"

"I was going to ask Jackie," Marie said, caught the look that Remy gave her and sighed. "Remy, would you mind giving me a lift to work tomorrow morning?"

"Sure, that'll be fine."

Marie shook her head. "You really don't have to chauffeur me around."

"I know. I want to," Remy replied simply.

"Why?"

"I enjoy your company."

Marie was silent for a moment.

"I think I rather enjoy yours too," she said finally. "Most of the time, anyway."

"Bon," he replied with a genuinely happy smile on his face.

* * *

><p>"Ah ha," Jackie said as she entered the dorm room and spotted Marie lying on her bed with a book, "I see you've escaped Papa's clutches."<p>

Marie chuckled and lifted and turned her head to look at Jackie as she dumped her bag on the floor.

"Mostly," Marie replied. "He's volunteered to drive me to and from work every day. And he talked me into joining him for Christmas lunch."

"Huh," Jackie considered thoughtfully. "He's going to be cooking Christmas dinner for me, my Tante, Oncle and Lou. I wonder what the odds are he'll get you to stay for dinner as well?"

Marie shrugged. "All I know is that he was right; it's nice having company on Christmas."

"See that's one of the reasons why he's such a good con artist," Jackie said, nodding. "He comes up with good arguments that are hard to dispute because they're just so reasonable."

"Yeah, I noticed," Marie said wryly. "Yesterday he was talking about all the perks that come with us being in a relationship—"

"You're in a relationship, are you?" Jackie asked. "I thought it was more of a farce where Papa pays you to pretend to like him while he tries to con you into letting him into your pants."

"I can't say I'm pretending to like him," Marie said. "And, well, while I can't dispute that he probably does want to get into my pants, he's sure got a lot of patience if that's his primary purpose in dating me."

"All part of being a thief, chère," Jackie replied. "A lot of patience."

* * *

><p>Although Remy picked Marie up and dropped her off to and from work every day until Christmas Eve, nothing really happened. There was the odd occasion where, on the way home, they went through the drive-through, but otherwise it was just a car trip. Remy always insisted on his kisses though.<p>

He picked her up again on Christmas Day, not long after she'd returned after the Church service.

"Merry Christmas," he said as she got into the car.

"Thanks," she replied, leaning in to give him his kiss. "Merry Christmas to you too."

"Merci."

Marie sat back and did up her seatbelt while Remy drove for home. When they arrived, Marie found Remy's living room looking a lot different than it had the last time she was here; a tall, fat Christmas tree filled one of the corners, and underneath it was a number of presents, while tinsel adorned the rest of the room.

"Nice work," she said.

"Jackie helped," Remy said, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yeah, she mentioned something about coming over here to do that," Marie said. "I've got a mini Christmas tree in the dorm, and that's about it."

Remy chuckled.

"It's a little early for lunch," he said. "And I'm just dying to give you your present."

Marie stifled a groan. "You really didn't need to get me anything."

Remy kissed her neck gently, then let her go and headed over to the Christmas tree.

"I know, ma chérie," he said. "I wanted to."

Marie took a seat on the lounge and placed her bag by her feet. While Remy picked up his present for her out from underneath the tree, Marie pulled out a small box from her bag, Remy grinned when he saw the present in her hands.

"Aww, chère," he said with a smirk as he sat down beside her. "You really didn't need to get me anything."

"Yeah, yeah," Marie replied. "Consider it a perk."

Remy chuckled and handed over the flat, square box in exchange for the box from Marie. He didn't open his straight away, preferring to watch as Marie unwrapped hers. She pulled away the wrapping paper, revealing a thin, decorative cardboard box. She lifted the lid, then the tissue paper underneath and pulled out a stunning little red dress.

"Buying me clothes again?" Marie asked dryly.

"I'm hoping you'll at least let me see you in this one," Remy replied, smiling.

"Yeah, I think I can arrange that."

"Bon."

He kissed her, then started opening up his present. Abruptly, Marie started to feel nervous.

"I had no idea what to get you," she said hurriedly. "But then I saw that, and thought of you, so I...umm..."

Remy paused in the middle of his wrapping paper removal to lean over and kiss her again. "I'm sure I'll like it."

The paper fell to the floor, revealing an ash tray that looked like a pair of lungs and claimed to cough and splutter when it was used. Remy burst out laughing.

"I got you some batteries for it too," Marie said, handing them over and feeling relieved he seemed to like it.

"Merci," Remy replied. "Ha! Would you believe me if I told you that my lungs are in such good condition, my doctor doesn't believe me when I say I smoke?"

"Nope," Marie said.

"Well, it's true," Remy said smugly, putting the box on the coffee table. "I use my powers to shield my lungs from the smoke."

"How?" Marie asked curiously.

"I'll show you—" Remy began, standing up.

"Not with a cigarette, I hope," Marie said, standing up also, and following him to the kitchen.

"No, no," Remy said, approaching the sink. "Watch this."

Marie watched as the faintest sparkle of magenta appeared around his hand and his eyes seemed to acquire a red glint, although they stayed primarily brown. He put his hand under the tap and turned on the water, let it run for few seconds and then turned the tap off and held his hand out to Marie for inspection.

"It's dry," Marie said, touching his hand with her own.

"Oui," Remy said smugly. "I do the same trick to stop my mouth and throat from getting sores. I get my nicotine fix without any of the health problems."

"Curious," Marie said, frowning thoughtfully. "This is how you create a charge, right?"

"That's right, but on a smaller scale. Well," Remy said, correcting himself, "not really smaller, exactly. Maybe, 'less intense' would be better. I'm not actually charging it up high enough to have any explosive potential."

"What's 'it'? Your skin?"

"Air, I think," Remy replied. "What's this? Twenty questions?"

Marie laughed.

"Sorry," she said. "Power analysis was one of my specialities at Xaviers. Because I can—could—absorb other people's powers, Professor Xavier thought it was important that I learn how to quickly analyse the powers I absorb so that I don't do something like...blow stuff up by accident. That included being able to assess the abilities of others prior to absorbing anyone, and I did a lot of practising with other people's powers too. Now _that_ was frustrating; I could always control the abilities of others a lot better than I could control my own."

Remy lifted his hand to rub her chin, and he kissed her once more.

"You can analyse my abilities any time," he said suggestively.

Marie groaned and batted at him. Remy chuckled.

"Why don't you go upstairs and try on your new dress?" he asked, then winked at her. "We should make sure it fits."

"Okay," Marie replied, stepping backwards away from him. "But you had better not tell me it would look better on the floor, Swamp Rat."

Remy chuckled as Marie disappeared down the hall.

* * *

><p>Remy was starting to wonder if Marie had gotten stuck or something when she finally came back down the stairs. The red satin was snug around her body, showing off her curves quite nicely. The plunging neckline revealed a lot more of her cleavage than he'd seen of her—aside from at the spa earlier that year—and the skirt, although short, wasn't quite short enough that Remy thought she'd complain about people being able to see her breakfast.<p>

"Wow," he said, "that looks even better on you than I thought."

"Which leads me to ask, did you have high standards or low standards?" Marie retorted.

Remy chuckled and walked over, slipping his hands around her waist. "High ones. By the way, chère, may I add that I think it would look even better on the floor?"

Marie glowered at him, then—much to Remy's surprise—kicked him in the shin, then the back of his knee, pushed him and next thing he knew, he was lying on the floor. Marie smiled at him.

"Enjoying the view?" she asked.

It took Remy a moment to get what she was getting at, then he laughed and gestured with his finger for her to come closer.

"The view would be even better if you were standing over my head," he teased her.

"I don't think so," Marie replied.

Remy didn't think that Marie realised just how much the view improved when she reached over to help him up.

"By the way, chère," he said, taking her hand, but mostly picking himself up, "I believe that violent touching was against our agreement..."

"So is touching my boobs, and you've done that at least twice," Marie retorted haughtily.

"Oooh," Remy said, wagging his eyebrows as he got to his feet. "Someone's been counting. Well, in that case, you kicked me twice and pushed me once, so that's three... which means I get to feel up your boobs again. Just to make things even."

"Don't you even think about it, Swamp Rat."

"Much too late for that... River Rat."

Marie backed off as Remy walked towards her, and wrapped her arms protectively over her chest.

"Relax, chère," he said as she backed into the wall. "I'm not going to."

"You had better not," Marie replied darkly.

Remy put his hands on her hips, smiled at her, then leaned in and kissed her. Marie relaxed her defence after a moment and slowly turned her hands around, sliding them along his chest up to his shoulders. He ran his hands up her back, enjoying the feel of the satin, when abruptly something occurred to him, and he pulled away just enough to be able to speak.

"Chère, correct me if I'm wrong," he said, "but you're not wearing a bra, are you?"

Marie, ignoring the blush she felt rising to her face, replied: "Well, the one I was wearing isn't made for this kind of dress. You'd be able the see it."

"And the one I bought you the other day that's still upstairs?"

"Same story," she said, then glared at him. "Hey, my eyes are up here."

Remy lifted his head at met her eyes. It hadn't even occurred to him when he bought the dress with the halter top and the low back that asking her to try it on might make her braless. He opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind and began kissing her again. He kissed a trail from her lips, along her cheek and down her neck.

"I know what you're doing," Marie said when Remy started kissing along her collar bone.

"Gonna let me get away with it?" he asked between kisses.

"Nope."

"Darn," he said and planted a final kiss below the base of her neck. "I was getting all excited too."

"Don't be silly," Marie replied. "You got excited long before now. I think I should change back."

"Aww—"

"It's for your own good."

"Why? You're planning on spanking me if I misbehave?" Remy asked mischievously.

"I think we've already established that you would enjoy that," Marie said. "No, it's more that, I understand if you're, umm, 'excited' for too long without release it can get quite painful. And I wouldn't want you to be discomforted."

Remy chuckled as Marie sauntered off back up the stairs.

* * *

><p>Much later, Marie opened up the front door to see Jackie standing on the doorstep.<p>

"My, my," Jackie said loudly as she walked inside. "Imagine me coming over to Papa's place and finding you still here, Marie. And here I was thinking you'd be home by now."

"Yeah," Marie replied in the same mechanical voice that Jackie used, "I never expected your dad to invite me to stay for dinner."

"Smartasses!" Remy called out to them.

Marie and Jackie chuckled. Jackie put her presents under the tree and then they joined Remy in the kitchen/dining. The round dining table was covered in a Christmas themes tablecloth, with a couple of candles. Remy was busy in the kitchen itself, putting their dinner together.

"Merry Christmas, Sunshine," Remy said upon seeing them.

"Merry Christmas, Papa," Jackie replied. "So, I'm not sure if I want to ask this, but what have you guys been up to?"

If it had been anyone else, Remy might have been inclined to make a suggestive reply, probably along the lines of "what _didn't_ we do". But since it was Jackie, he decided he wouldn't go there.

"Christmas specials mostly," he said.

"Heh, we had this in-depth discussion on one of the songs in _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_," Marie added with a grin, "where Santa tells the kids they have to give him a kiss if they want a toy. Suffice to say, that song gets cut out when they show it on TV nowadays."

"Santa's a pedophile," Remy said wickedly.

"He was just after a thank you, dammit," Marie insisted. "There wasn't anything creepy or wrong about the song at the time."

"Well, of course you'd be on his side," said Remy. "You've been putting kids on his lap for the last couple of weeks. Obviously, you're a co-conspirator."

"I remember that cartoon," Jackie mused, cutting in on what was probably a reprise of their previous discussion. "I thought Maman still had the DVDs."

"Non, I've got them," Remy replied. "I like cartoons."

"I noticed."

"I stole 'em when I moved out."

"Is it really stealing when you already own them?"

"Well, if we want to be pedantic," Remy said, "I stole them from the shop in the first place so—"

"I really don't need to know the tales of your shop-lifting," Marie cut in.

There was a knock at the door before anyone could reply, and Jackie volunteered to answer it. Moments later, Henri, Mercy and Louis had entered. Mercy looked like she wanted to strangle Remy when she realised Marie was there.

"Marie," said Mercy. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Well, I couldn't let her stay all on her own on Christmas," Remy said before Marie could reply.

"Uh huh, and would you have invited her if we'd been having dinner at home again this year?" Mercy asked.

Remy gave a half shrug, his hands too full with cooking to shrug properly. "Since Père and Carole are on their world cruise, the question is irrelevant."

There were general 'hello's and 'how have you been's while Remy finish preparing and serving dinner. The family helped themselves to the dinner, which was spread out on the kitchen bench, and then took their filled plates to the dining table.

"So cuz," said Louis, with a teasing smirk on his face. "How's college?"

"The real question you should be asking, Lou," Jackie began.

"Don't call me that," Louis objected.

"Is how am I holding up resisting the temptation to rob the place blind," Jackie went on cheerfully, as if Louis hadn't said anything.

Remy and Henri chuckled while Mercy looked mildly amused.

"Seriously, the security on the computer network alone is so pathetic, I almost want to hack into it just to teach them a lesson," Jackie said. "And don't even get me started on the chemistry lab and the storage room where they keep all the fun stuff."

"What were you doing in the chemistry lab?" Marie asked.

"Thomas," Jackie answered, giving Marie a wink over the table.

"Ahh," Marie said, nodding. "Say no more."

"Aww, but I wanna share all the details," Jackie replied, batting her eyes.

"I'm not sure your Tante wants to hear a 'blow by blow' of your sex life, Sunshine," Remy said, with a smirk at his little pun.

"You've got that right,' Mercy said. "Although I'm a little disturbed that you didn't include yourself in that statement."

"I didn't include anyone else at the table either," Remy said with a shrug.

"Well, it was awhile ago anyway," Jackie said with a dismissing tone. "I wouldn't mind breaking into the robotics labs. Which reminds me, Marie?"

"Yeah?"

"Remind me to seduce one of the robotic engineering nerds," she said, then considered. "Or maybe a couple of them..."

"Chris is doing robotics," Marie said.

"Other than Chris," Jackie said.

"What's wrong with Chris?" asked Remy.

"He already considers me a friend, so there's no point," Jackie replied with a shrug as she gathered her next mouthful. "Besides, he doesn't have the stamina to keep up with me."

"Sounds reasonable to me," Remy said.

"Glad you approve."

Marie just shook her head as if they were all insane.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Although Remy invited Jackie and Marie to join him for New Years, the girls declined, preferring to spend the night with their friends. Remy and Marie went on their January date before the spring semester started.

Remy then invited both of them to his birthday party. His forty-first was just a 'quiet' evening with a small group of friends and family. Remy didn't always feel the need to have a party for his birthday, but he did want the excuse to see Marie again. He sat in the middle along one side of the table in the restaurant, with Silvia on one side, Marie on the other and Jackie sitting across from Marie. Emil was sitting between Silvia and Henri at the head of the table, and Mercy between Henri and Jackie.

It occurred to Remy that this was the first time Marie and Silvia had spoken to each other. He was reasonably certain they'd met the previous year at his last birthday party, but until now they'd never had a conversation. Not that they were doing much in conversing. It was usually interesting when his mistresses met each other; he could never tell if they were going to get along or not.

Silvia wasn't really sure what to make of Marie. It was very easy to see the younger woman as "the competition", even if technically, there was no competition. Remy was in an open relationship with both of them and as such, he wasn't cheating on her with Marie. Nevertheless, Silvia was quite certain that she'd be able to handle Marie's presence a lot better if she was in the same age bracket.

"Oh, Marie," said Jackie as they looked over the menu, "you should get the Chicken a la Diable. That's what I'm having. It's really good here."

"In that case you should probably have the Beaujolais," Remy said thoughtfully.

Marie looked at both of them with an amused smirk on her face. "So, am I ever going to be able to go out to dinner with either of you, without you making some recommendation on the food or the wine?"

"I understand your pain, chère," said Henri, grinning at her.

"But just think," Mercy said helpfully, "if you don't like it, you know who to blame."

Marie laughed.

"Oui, can't blame the chef," said Remy. "Actually I think the head chef here graduated from the CIA."

Silvia frowned.

"Who cares as long as they can cook?" asked Emil.

"I like knowing where the chefs were taught," said Remy. "It gives you some idea of whether you should have high or low expectations for the food."

"But then you wouldn't go to a restaurant if you had low expectations of the food," Marie said, "and you might miss out on something really good."

"I never said I wouldn't go there," Remy replied. "I just like to know what to expect. Kind of like people who like to find out how the story goes before they watch the movie."

"Umm," Silvia said, "since when does the CIA train chefs?"

"Since always," Jackie said. "That's the whole point, duh."

"No, it's not," Silvia said with a confused frown. "I would think that they'd be more interested in national security."

"A cooking school interested in national security?" Jackie asked with a silly grin on her face. "What are they going to do? Hit illegal immigrants with frying pans?"

"I don't know," Remy said mischievously. "They're probably good at _grilling_ suspects."

"Umm, Silvia?" Marie said, looking around Remy to the other woman. "We were talking about the Culinary Institute of America, not the Central Intelligence Agency."

"Oh," Silvia replied, her frown deepening. "Well, they shouldn't be allowed to have the same initials. Isn't there a law against that?"

"There are laws against poaching too, but the CIA still does it," Jackie said.

Marie burst out laughing. Their waiter arrived not long thereafter and took their orders.

It was the first misunderstanding on Silvia's part of the evening, and it wasn't the last. As the meal progressed, Remy found himself unwittingly comparing Marie and Silvia, and abruptly realised towards the end of the night that he'd spent significantly more time talking with Marie rather than Silvia. He told himself it was just because Silvia would be coming home with him tonight, so he wanted to get in as much time with Marie as possible, but that evening he and Silvia didn't really talk at all. Rather, they made their way straight into the bedroom and let their bodies have the conversation.

* * *

><p>A few days later Silvia opened her front door and found Remy standing on her doorstep.<p>

"Remy," she said. "This is a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you."

Remy smiled faintly.

"Not that pleasant, I'm afraid," he replied. "Silvia, I... It's time for us to break up."

"What?" Silvia asked, the smile fading fast from her face. "Why? What do you mean?"

"It's not working between us any more—"

"That's ridiculous! Of course it's working!"

"Surely you've noticed? We never talk any more, chère, we just go straight to the bedroom."

"I'm sorry, are you breaking up with me because we have too much sex?"

Remy cracked a smile. "No. I'm breaking up with you because that's all we do. When all I want is sex, I hire a hooker. And you're not a hooker. You're a beautiful, generous, caring woman."

Silvia looked away. "No, I'm not."

"Sure you are," he insisted. "I've been very lucky to have you, as any homme would be. And it's not just that. You and I, we haven't got a future together. It wouldn't be fair of me to hold onto you when there's someone else out there who can give you the life you deserve."

"But, Remy, I," Silvia began, and then had to stop because she was getting all choked up with tears.

"Shh," Remy said softly, touching her lips with his finger. "It's okay. You're better off without me."

"N-no—"

"Au revoir, chérie."

* * *

><p>Marie was in the robotics lab with two guys she shared some classes with. On the bench was an ovoid-shaped robot that the group had been creating for a robot war. The two guys couldn't have been more difference in appearance: Chris was notably overweight, brown-haired, short and wore glasses. Ryan was bone thin, tall, blond and didn't need glasses.<p>

"Alright," said Chris, "I think that just about does it for tonight."

"I believe that's code for 'I couldn't be bothered doing any more'," Marie said with a teasing grin.

"Yep," Chris replied.

"We could do with a break anyway," said Ryan. "Maybe if we sleep on it, we can figure it out."

"Usually works that way," Marie said in agreement.

The three packed up and then headed out to the car park. Ryan was the only one with a car, and by default was their ride home. Chris was closest, so Ryan dropped him off first, then he headed for Marie's.

"So, uhh, do you have any plans for Valentines Day?" Ryan asked when they were almost there.

Marie couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips.

"No, actually," she said. "Do you?"

"No," Ryan replied. "I, umm, don't supposed you'd consider making some plans with me...would you?"

"I might," Marie said, turning her head towards him. "What did you have in mind?"

"Dinner?" he asked hopefully.

"As long as your idea of dinner isn't something like McDonalds."

Ryan laughed. "No."

"Good," Marie said as they pulled up in the parking lot. "Then it's a date."

* * *

><p>Later that evening, Marie got a call from Remy:<p>

"So, wanna be my Valentine?" he asked.

Marie was stunned silent for a moment, and then remembered she needed to say something.

"Oh, umm, I... I'm sorry sugar, I've already got plans for the fourteenth," she said. "I didn't even think... You do know it's a week night, right? I wouldn't have been able to sleep over."

"Yeah, I know," Remy replied, trying not to sound disappointed. "I thought... Well, it doesn't matter what I thought now. I'll just have to find another date."

"What about Silvia? Or does she have other plans too?"

"Something like that. What about the following Friday?"

"That's fine."

"Well, good. I'll pick you up at... I don't know. I'll text you later once I figure out what we're doing."

Marie chuckled. "Okay. Sorry sugar. I honestly didn't think that you'd ask me out for Valentines Day. You should have called yesterday."

"That close, huh?" Remy asked ruefully.

"Yep."

"Oh well. And you don't need to apologise, chère. Not like we're exclusive or anything. So, ahh, how long have you been going out? If you don't mind my asking...?"

"Actually this'll be our first date."

"Ahh. Well, good luck then."

"Thanks."

They hung up not long after that and Remy looked glumly at his phone while he put it on the table.

He didn't know why it bothered him so much that Marie was seeing someone else. They had an open relationship precisely because it would be highly hypocritical of him to insist she should be faithful when he had a wife. In any case, the only reason why Marie was even dating him at all was because that was the price he asked her for the Cure. She'd made it very clear she wasn't interested in him like that. It was completely understandable that she would look for love elsewhere in unmarried men close to her age.

Remy sighed and went looking for his cigarettes.

He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted her all to himself anyway. He could think of a few possibilities, the first being the challenge she posed him, simply by refusing him. She was different from his other mistresses. Some of the difference could be put down to the generation gap, but there were other things about her as well that made her stand out; little things that refused to be named, but were there.

He should probably do the decent thing and respect her wishes. Marie didn't need him in her life.

But if he was a decent guy, he wouldn't have stolen the Cure in the first place.

* * *

><p>Valentines Day arrived, and Marie was greatly relieved to finally be unlocking the dorm room door. It had been a long day. She was looking forward to having a chance to relax before they had to go out again. She had barely stepped inside the dorm when something unusual caught her attention.<p>

"What in the world?" Marie exclaimed.

"What?" Jackie asked, closing the door behind her.

Before Marie could answer, Jackie saw for herself: On each of their desks was a bouquet of six roses (Marie's were red, Jackie's were a dark pink), and a matching box. "Ahh. I bet Papa's been here."

"How'd he get in? Did you give him a key?" Marie asked and then realised the stupidity of her question, just as Jackie said: "He probably picked the lock."

"Right, of course," Marie said, putting her bag down on the floor, and making her way over to the desk. "Does he always get you something for Valentines Day?"

Jackie shrugged as she glanced at the note attached to the flowers, confirming that Remy had been there.

"Usually," she said, then paused and frowned thoughtfully at Marie. "That's not weird, is it?"

"Weird? What do you mean?" Marie asked, picking up the box of chocolates.

"You know, that Papa gives me Valentines Day presents," Jackie said, sitting down on her bed. "I mean, I know the day's supposed to be a romantic love day, and all..."

Marie chuckled.

"Nah, I don't think that's weird," Marie said. "Sometimes parents do give their kids Valentines. And friends can give each other Valentines too. I think it's more of a 'general love' day, than a 'romantic love' day, myself."

Jackie nodded. "Alright then. Sometimes I can't tell—I mean, I know that I do and think things differently to other people, and sometimes I just can't tell if I'm being normal or not."

"Normal is relative," Marie replied with a wave of her hand. "The definition becomes vaguer and vaguer as the number of people increases. Since when are you worried about being normal anyway?"

"Oh, I have no problems with being myself," Jackie said, "except when I'm working. Then I would prefer not to draw unwanted attention to myself."

"Ahh, of course," Marie said with a nod. "I should have guessed."

Jackie grinned at her, then picked up her box of chocolate and pulled off the pink ribbon. "Now, what delights has Papa decided to stuff me with this year?"

Marie laughed and put her own box of chocolates back next to the flowers. "If it was anyone else, I'd be a little concerned about things like this showing up in here unannounced."

"You should continue being concerned," Jackie advised her. "If Papa had any other reason for coming in here, like going through our things, we wouldn't know. Unless he stole something, which is unlikely."

"Thank you for making me feel _so_ much better," Marie replied cynically.

"You're welcome."

* * *

><p>That evening, Ryan pulled up in the parking lot attached to Marie's dormitory block.<p>

"So, did you have a good time tonight?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I did," Marie replied. "Did you?"

"Yep. So, umm, would you like to maybe, go out again sometime?" Ryan asked, wondering why he was nervous about asking this. The date had gone well.

"Sure, I'd like that," she said. "All I ask is that when we get to date three, you don't ask me out in the car."

Ryan laughed and Marie grinned at him as she opened up her door.

"Okay," he agreed, rather excited about the prospect of a 'date three'. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yep," Marie said.

She leaned over, kissed his cheek lightly, and was starting to get out of the car when she remembered Remy. She winced internally.

"Umm, there's just one thing," Marie said, a little reluctantly, "I'm... I'm not interested in dating anyone seriously right now."

"Oh...okay?" Ryan replied uncertainly.

"Yeah, so, we'd just be, umm, casual dating," she said, and then added hurriedly: "This is no reflection on you at all. I just want to focus on college right now."

Ryan frowned thoughtfully. "So by casual dating you mean?"

"Meaning if you want to date someone else, you can," Marie replied, feeling sick just saying it.

"Or if you want to." Ryan's tone was almost accusing.

"Don't misunderstand me," Marie said firmly. "I'm not looking to date anyone else at the moment. I just don't want any unnecessary pressure on the relationship. If things work out later, I'm open to changing that. The casual part, I mean."

When Ryan didn't reply straight away, Marie continued:

"If you're not okay with that, I'll understand," she said softly.

"It's just that," Ryan began, hesitated and then said: "This is going to sound dumb."

"Try me," Marie grinned. "I've heard a lot of dumb things."

"Well, I was kind of looking forward to having my first girlfriend."

Marie giggled at his embarrassed tone and leaned towards him.

"You can call me that, if you want," she said. "It could well be that for all intents and purposes we end up dating exclusively anyway. As I said, I don't want any necessary pressure on us. Exams are stressful enough as it is."

"Well, that's true," Ryan conceded, daring to turn his head to look at Marie and see her smiling face.

"You think about it and get back to me," Marie said. "In the meantime, I'm still holding you to that second date."

Ryan started to laugh and was silenced by Marie's lips on his. At first he was way too shocked to respond, and he could only stare at Marie when she pulled away from the brief kiss.

"How does next Saturday sound?" she asked.

"Fine," Ryan replied, his voice sounding a little squeaky.

"Great," Marie said, finally shuffling out of the car. "See you later, sugar."

Ryan almost didn't say 'bye' in time. He watched as Marie made her way inside, all excited because he'd finally had his first kiss.

* * *

><p>A half hour later, Remy stood on the doorstep of his date's home. She was in his arms and sharing a kiss with him, when the front door was opened by a horrified teenage girl. Startled, Remy and his date, Fiona, pulled away.<p>

"How could you!" the girl exclaimed before running away in tears.

"Oh dear," said Fiona. "I suppose I'd better talk to her."

"Oui," Remy said, dropping his hands. "I'd, ahh, ask you out on a second date but..."

"Yeah, that's not going to happen," Fiona replied. "I'm just not ready for another relationship right now."

Remy nodded. "I understand, I do. If you ever change your mind, you have my number. I'm always good for flings."

Fiona grinned at him. "I'm sure you are. Thanks for a lovely evening, Remy."

"Thank you for spending it with me," Remy replied, backing down the stairs. "Good luck."

* * *

><p>Come Friday, Remy was having a hard time concentrating on his date with Marie. They were at the theatre, watching an amateur production of <em>The Mikado<em>. Marie seemed to be enjoying it, but the comic opera was failing to keep Remy's attention. His hand was holding hers, but all he could think about was wondering how her date went with the other man. Did it go well? Did he hold her hand too? Did they kiss? The only thing he could be certain of was that they wouldn't have slept together.

Marie was hardly the first mistress Remy ever had that had dated other men at the same time. In fact, Remy rather suspected that most, if not all of them, had. The difference with Marie, Remy decided after a great deal of stewing on the matter, was that Marie was the only mistress he'd had that was with him because she had to be, and not because she wanted to be. He just didn't know how he could compete with the guy she wanted to be with.

It was only after they got back to his place, that Remy finally asked the question:

"So," he said once they were settled on the lounge, "how'd your date go the other night?"

"It was great," Marie replied, a smile lighting up her face. "Ryan's such a sweetheart. We're going out again next week. He wasn't too happy about the casual dating thing, but he seemed to understand about me wanting to focus on school."

"I'm your deep dark secret, am I, chère?"

"Damn straight. There's no way any of my friends are finding out that I'm dating a married man, let alone that I'm paying off a debt by pretending to be someone's girlfriend," Marie said firmly. "Next thing I know, people'll be offering to pay me for _other_ things."

"Well, we can't have that," Remy said, getting up off the lounge. "I need a drink, you want anything?"

"Water'll be fine, thanks," Marie said, following him into the kitchen.

She sat down at the bench and then raised her eyebrows as she watched Remy pull the bourbon out of the cupboard.

"Oh, you meant a _drink_ drink," Marie said.

"Oui," Remy said, getting out the glasses. "Why? Changed your mind?"

Marie was about to say she'd stick to water, when she actually did change her mind. "Actually, can I try some of the bourbon? I haven't had any before. I usually just have beer, or wine when I'm with you."

"Sure," Remy said with a shrug.

He added some ice to Marie's glass, and then poured the bourbon into both—intending on drinking his straight. He slid Marie's glass across the counter to him and she thanked him before taking a tentative sip.

"Whoa! Okay!" Marie exclaimed when she found her voice again. "That burns."

Remy grinned at her—the first grin he'd had for her all night. "Oui."

Marie shook her head. "Well, I did ask."

"You get used to it," Remy replied. "You could always try another bourbon, too. They don't all taste the same. Although that does depend on who you talk to."

"Bit like wine, huh?"

"And beer. And...well pretty much any alcoholic beverage, really."

"Hmm," Marie said, looking at her glass with trepidation. "So, uhh, how'd your date go? On Valentines Day?"

Remy shrugged and picked up his own glass. "Fine."

"Gonna see her again?"

"Unlikely," he replied. "She was a recent divorcee, and really only accepted my invitation to annoy her ex. They're still living together. Unfortunately, we also ended up upsetting her daughter."

"Ahh," Marie said, and then gaped in shock as Remy proceeded to down about half his bourbon in one gulp. "How can you drink it like that?"

Remy shrugged in reply, and put the glass back down again. For a moment they just looked at each other, and then Remy reached out and touched her cheek gently. He leaned further over the counter to kiss her. She kissed him back, but Remy knew it was because she had to, not because she wanted to. He couldn't even pretend and fool himself into thinking otherwise like he did with prostitutes. Marie didn't care about him. She probably didn't even like him, not with him screwing up her love life.

He pulled away from the kiss and downed the rest of his bourbon.

* * *

><p>Remy did a lot of heavy drinking over the next few days. He'd restrained himself during his date with Marie, having just enough to take the edge off. Once he didn't have to worry about behaving himself, he was back on the lounge, drinking himself into oblivion and recreating a patch of black behind him with the remains of beer after beer.<p>

* * *

><p>Jackie arrived at their dorm midday on the Sunday after Marie's second date with Ryan. Although Jackie looked like herself initially, the moment the door way shut behind her, she dropped the illusion and Marie gaped at her dishevelled appearance.<p>

"That must have been some party," Marie said, staring at the massive hickey on the side of Jackie's neck.

Jackie grinned gleefully at her.

"Actually, the party was pretty lame," Jackie said wickedly. "Pierre and Damo, on the other hand..."

"You finally gave into temptation and had a threesome," Marie said, shook her head, and then added: "Was it all you dreamed it would be?"

"Better. Want details?"

"No, not really."

Jackie chuckled and rubbed her hands together.

"All I'm going to say is—"

"Must you?"

"—I need to get more flavoured condoms."

"Okay, I really didn't need that image," Marie said.

"Sometimes, Marie, you are such a prude," Jackie teased her.

"Sometimes, Jackie," Marie replied sweetly, "you are such a slut."

"It runs in the family," Jackie replied cheerfully. "What? You didn't think I'd actually be insulted by that, did you? You _have_ met my parents."

"So Marie," Marie said, "how was your date last night? It was pretty good, thanks Jackie. It was really nice spending some time together, just getting to know each other."

"Yeah 'getting to know'." Jackie said wickedly, while sitting on the bed and taking off her boots.

"It was good quality time," Marie insisted, refusing to rise to Jackie's bait. "We had a chance to connect to each other on an intellectual and emotional level."

"I bet you haven't even gotten to second base yet," Jackie said, "major _or_ minor league."

"Sugar, the first time I even touched first base, I put him into a coma for three weeks," Marie replied with a flick of her hair. "The only way I could get to first base with my second boyfriend before I got the Cure, was if he turns his lips into ice first, and even then we couldn't get away with it for more than a few seconds."

"If I ever meet Bobby," Jackie decided, "I'm going to pounce on him."

"He's got a girlfriend."

"So?"

"Oh, right," Marie said cynically. "It runs in the family."

Jackie chuckled.

"The first time I got to first base," Jackie said, "it was with my friend Sy. We were trying to figure out what the big deal was."

"Did you figure it out?" Marie asked with a slight laugh.

"Nope, we both thought it was pretty gross," Jackie replied cheerfully. "Emil said we should keep practising and that it would get better. Of course, Maman freaked when she discovered me making out with Sy."

"Because her little girl was kissing a boy?"

"No, because I was kissing Emil's son."

"Oh," Marie replied, not realising Sy and Emil had been related.

"Maman can't stand Emil. She only tolerates him because she has to," Jackie told her with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "She was all 'I know you want to experiment, but does it have to be with Sy?'"

"So what did you do?"

"Well, it turned out to be a good thing, because I rather liked Sy, but instead I hit home base with this other guy, Quinten. Yeah, I ended up beating the crap out of Quin, 'cause it damn well hurt when he entered me. Stupid stretching," Jackie said with remembered indignation. "And I would have hated to have hurt my friend."

"Wait, so you lost it to someone you didn't even like?" Marie asked, giving her an odd look.

"Maman recommended finding someone who'd done it before," Jackie replied with a shrug. "You know, to save awkward fumbling. She said if I wanted to wait until I was of age, we could hire a professional to do the job, but I was impatient."

Jackie didn't notice Marie's horrified look as she set her boots aside and continued her musing: "I'm not sure if I regret not waiting or not. I guess it would have hurt either way."

"I cannot believe your mama actually suggested hiring a...a...a sex worker to take away your virginity," Marie said. "I can't believe _anyone's_ mama would suggest that."

"Why?" Jackie asked, giving Marie an odd look. "A bad first time can seriously screw up your sex life."

"Yeah, but it's your _first_ time," Marie said. "It should be special."

"Awwwwwww," said Jackie, batting her eyes at Marie. "Was your first time 'special'?"

"Yes it was, actually," Marie said stiffly. "We had music and candles and—"

"Fumbling and awkwardness," Jackie cut in, grinning.

"A little, yeah, but I shared it with someone I loved," Marie said firmly.

"And I shared mine with someone I barely knew, and didn't feel even the slightest bit of remorse for breaking his nose afterwards," Jackie said merrily. "But hey, at least Quin knew where to put it and how to get in there."

"You broke his nose?" Marie asked.

"Yeah," Jackie said as she stood up. "I bet he had a great time explaining that afterwards. I hope he told everyone he had rough sex. That would have been hilarious."

"Ahh, yes, there's an old joke that when a boy comes home with a black eye, he tells his father 'you should see the other guy'," Marie said.

Jackie laughed.

"Anyway," Jackie said, "as fascinating as this conversation is, I need a shower."

Marie waved her hand in front of her face and grinned at Jackie. "Yes you do."

"Smart ass."

"Yep."

* * *

><p>Remy stubbed out his cigarette with his boot on the ground of the parking lot outside of Marie and Jackie's dormitory block. He was about to walk towards the main doors, when they opened and Marie stepped through. She looked gorgeous, as usual, and had even deigned to wear a short skirt tonight, despite the cool air.<p>

"Hey," she said as she approached. "I saw you arrive but..."

Marie trailed off as she caught a whiff of cigarette smoke. Well, that explained why he hadn't come up yet.

"I was just finishing up something," Remy replied, moving around to Marie's side of the car to open the door for her.

"Thanks," Marie replied tersely, not at all appreciating the smell on him, but not wanting to say anything. He didn't usually show up to their dates smelling of cigarette.

Remy gave a half shrug and then got into the car himself.

"So," Marie said when they've been driving for awhile in silence, "where are we headed tonight?"

"There's a seafood restaurant that overlooks the Mississippi," Remy replied.

"Sounds nice."

They fell into silence again, and then Remy pulled out a packet of cigarette from inside his coat. Marie didn't notice what he was doing until after he'd lit the cigarette hanging out of his mouth with his finger. Incensed, Marie grabbed the packet—which he hadn't put away yet—and threw it hard over the side of the car.

"Marie!" Remy objected, the car swerving in his knee-jerk reaction to save his cigarettes. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"Hey, the road's that way," Marie retorted hotly, gesturing to the road in question. "And I don't give a rat's ass if your doctor doesn't believe you smoke. It still stains your teeth, makes your breath smell bad, and you're obviously still getting the nicotine, or you wouldn't want to smoke in the first place. Unless you've got a healing factor, there's no way you can possibly convince me it's not doing you any harm, Swamp Rat, no matter how many party tricks you have. I have no intention of breathing in your second-hand smoke either."

For a moment, Remy was rendered silent. She could have just said it was a disgusting habit, and although she did comment about bad breath and second-hand smoke, the focus of her rant had been his health. A small smile grew on his lips as he pulled out his freshly lit cigarette from his mouth and held it out to her. Maybe she did actually care about him, after all.

"Want to do the honours with this one, too?" he asked her.

Marie grinned, took the cigarette, stubbed it out in the in-car ash tray and then dropped it over the side. While she was doing this, Remy pulled out a box of sugar-free breath mints from one of his pockets. He popped one into his mouth.

"Good boy," Marie said as Remy put the packet away again.

Remy laughed.

The rest of the trip was still in silence, but it was a lot more companionable and relaxed than how it had begun. Once they parked at the restaurant, Remy took Marie's hand and held it in his, right until they reached their table, when he reluctantly let go.

Dinner was a pleasant affair. Remy asked her about college, Marie complained that papers were a pain, and they chatted about other, general topics in between enjoying their seafood platter and white wine.

"I was thinking," Remy began.

"Did it hurt?" Marie asked with a smirk.

"No, but it might," he replied evenly. "I may need you to kiss it better."

Marie giggled.

"You were thinking," she prompted.

"By my calculations, this is date ten, which means you owe me two more," Remy said. "I figure we can go out again this month, say in a fortnight."

"Okay."

"And then the last date can be for the Guild anniversary party," Remy said. "After the party I can take you back to my place for fun times. That'll be a Saturday evening."

"I thought you and Bella Donna used your anniversary to flaunt _new_ partners," Marie said. "At least, that's the impression I got from Jackie."

Remy shrugged. "Sometimes, not always. We don't tell every partner about the Guild, so it's not unusual for the same person to come as our guest multiple times. Meg went three times."

Marie looked at Remy as a sad expression flickered across his face.

"You liked Meg?" she asked.

Remy looked down at his plate and pushed his food around with his fork.

"I loved Meg," he admitted finally. "We were together for five years, not exclusively, I'll admit, but if I could have been, I would have. I'm living in limbo here, chère. I can't change the past with Belle, and I have no future with anyone else."

The last part came out a bit sharper than he intended and he stabbed his fish in irritation. Marie was silent for a time, thrown off by the unexpected outburst.

"Well," she said finally, "I'd be happy to go to the party, just as long as it's okay with Jackie. She was really upset about it last time."

"I'll talk to her," Remy replied, still looking at his plate, although his voice sounded calmer.

"So, umm, what are you guys doing for the anniversary this year?" Marie asked.

"Masquerade ball."

"Really?" Marie asked brightly. "I've always wanted to go to one of those. Now I _really_ hope it's okay with Jackie."

Remy lifted his head and grinned at Marie. "This mean you'll help me talk her into it?"

"I might," Marie replied slyly.

After dinner, Remy drove them to a lookout that had a glorious view of the Mississippi river. From the looks of things, there were a number of other people who had the same idea, although in their case, Remy's plan involved the additional step of closing the top of his convertible.

"I can't believe we haven't made out in the back of the car already," he said as he joined Marie on the back seat. "Where has my head been?"

"I can think of a few places," Marie replied dryly.

Remy chuckled wickedly as his hands found her legs and lifted them over his lap.

"You weren't planning on wearing these all night, were you?" he asked, indicating her stockings.

Marie hesitated before replying. Normally she wouldn't have even considered saying what she was about to say, but she was feeling a little sorry for him after his brief outburst in the restaurant. Besides, she preferred direct skin-to-skin contact anyway.

"They're thigh-high's," she told him, holding his gaze. "They should slip right off."

Remy paused at the unexpected, tacit permission to put his hands under her skirt (if only for that one task) and Marie fancied that his eyes even glowed with his delight. He started to move one hand up her leg, then seemed to remember she was wearing shoes and Marie grinned as Remy turned slightly so he could remove those first.

He met her eyes once more and slowly slid one hand down her left leg, prepared to back out in case she changed her mind. She didn't so much as flinch when his fingers followed the stocking under her skirt and didn't say a word as his fingers ran over the lace at the top. Slowly, he tucked his fingers in under the elastic, folded the top over and rolled the stocking down and off her leg. Marie smiled as he lifted her leg to kiss her bare skin gently, and then repeated everything with her right leg.

Shoes and stockings now on the floor, Remy kissed her and shifted them both so that Marie was lying on her back and Remy half on top of her. Their legs were entangled with each other in what was left of the space.

"Mmm," Marie said, after hitting her head on the door. "Okay, seriously, I have no idea how anyone can have sex on the back seat of a car."

Remy chuckled.

"Want me to demonstrate?" he asked mischievously.

"You wish."

"Oui, I do, very much."

Marie found herself blushing at his tone, and Remy lowered his head to kiss her. He supported his weight with one hand, while the other caressed Marie's closest leg. He loved that she was quick to respond and return in kind nowadays. It was nice to feel her relax and hopefully even enjoy his ministrations, rather than stiffening and freezing up all the time, like she often did in the beginning.

Remy's hand found the hem of her skirt and slowly drifted up underneath, keeping to her outer thigh. Marie didn't object, so he took that as permission that he could stay. His fingers kneaded her leg with vigour and in his enthusiasm, his hand moved further up her leg (not that there was much further it could go at that point).

When Remy's fingers brushed against the edge of her underwear, however, Marie grabbed his hand and yanked it down.

"Down boy," she murmured.

Remy laughed softly and nuzzled her nose. "I thought you didn't reward bad behaviour."

"I don't," Marie replied. "But that one was my fault. I did kind of invite you in, I just...failed to tell you how far you could go."

Remy grinned and kissed her again briefly.

"You make me so hot," he said.

"I'd gotten that impression," Marie replied, feeling a little embarrassed at his admission and avoiding his eyes.

"You have to promise me something, chère," Remy said seriously. "Even if it's not with me, you have to have sex on the back seat of a car at least once in your lifetime."

Marie laughed.

"Oh do I?" she asked.

"Oui," Remy said firmly.

* * *

><p>Later that night found Remy and Marie in bed together. Marie was fast asleep with her head on his shoulder and one arm wrapped over his chest. Remy had one arm wrapped around her back and was gently stroking her arm with his free hand. The arm she was lying on was starting to go dead, but Remy didn't care. She fit so perfectly next to him, in his arms, he didn't want the moment to end.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Marie put down her menu. She was at a restaurant with Ryan for dinner.

"Umm, I know you don't drink," said Marie, "but do you mind if I order a glass of wine?"

"No," Ryan replied, then looked at her with a curious smile on his face. "I thought you only drank beer?"

"A friend of mine got me into drinking wine with dinner occasionally," Marie said ruefully.

"Ahh."

She felt just a twinge guilty referring to Remy as just a friend, but at the same time, referring to a married man as being anything more than a friend made her feel worse. She certainly wasn't going to refer to Remy as her boyfriend in front of, well, her boyfriend.

"Is there a particular reason why you don't drink?" Marie asked curiously after the waiter took their order. "Or do you just not like drinking?"

"Never tried actually," Ryan replied. "Doctor's orders. I have Crohn's disease."

"Which is?"

"It's a bowel disease. I don't have a very good relationship with food," Ryan said ruefully. "When I was in high school, I lost that much weight they diagnosed me with anorexia. They tried treating me with therapy when something physical was wrong."

"Wow, that must have sucked," Marie said sympathetically.

"Yeah, well, it was a relief when they finally figured out what it was, that's for sure. Anyway, they've got it pretty much under control now. I'm on drugs, the legal, prescription kind," Ryan said with a grin. "Have to be careful what I eat, 'cause some things'll set me off. And it's weird, because what sets me off isn't the same thing that sets other people off."

Marie nodded, figuring she was better off not asking what he meant by 'setting off'. She had a pretty good idea as it was without needing Ryan to confirm it.

"Have to have a colonoscopy every two years," he went on. "That's always fun. Not."

"Aww, poor baby," Marie replied affectionately.

"Anyway, yeah, so alcohol is out." Ryan shrugged. "It's no big deal really. I haven't had any, so I don't know what I'm missing out on."

Marie laughed. The waiter returned with their drinks and set the glasses on the table in front of them.

"So," Marie said thoughtfully, "and if you think I'm invading your privacy or something just tell me to shut up, but you said that they thought you were anorexic to begin with?"

Ryan nodded. "Yeah, I was even skinnier than I am now. I have a lot of trouble putting weight on, and it's not because I'm not eating, even if some days it feels like a lot less hassle. Actually it got so bad at one point they thought I was gonna die."

Marie nodded and she reached across and took his hand, caressing the back of it with her thumb.

"Well, I'm glad they were wrong," she said firmly.

"So am I," Ryan replied with a grin. "I haven't completed all the stuff on my list yet."

"What list?"

"A list of things I want to do before I kick the bucket," Ryan said. "When you get exhausted just getting out of bed in the morning, it helps to have a little motivation."

"Seriously?" Marie asked. "Just getting out of bed?"

"When I'm badly underweight, yeah." Ryan nodded.

"Well, that sucks," Marie said and then went on: "So, what's on your list?"

"Oh there's a few different things. Graduate college. Read certain books," he said, and then offered her a shy smile. "Get a girlfriend."

"Aww. First kiss?"

"Yep."

"Have sex on the backseat of a car?"

"Well, have sex is on there," Ryan said, giving Marie a slightly embarrassed look. "I didn't specify where though."

"A friend of mine told me I had to do that at least once," she replied, and in response to his embarrassed expression: "I was just asking, not propositioning. I umm, think it's a little soon for that. So, what else is on the list? See the Eiffel Tower?"

"Nah, I'm not interested in going to France," Ryan replied. "It's full of French people."

Marie laughed.

"There's only two things I hate in this world," Ryan said dramatically. "People who are intolerant of other people's cultures, and the French."

Marie laughed again.

"Okay," she said. "I know you're quoting something."

"Austin Powers. The third one," Ryan said with a grin. "And technically it's the Dutch, not the French. Actually I'm not really interested in going overseas. I guess I'm a bit of a homebody."

"Plus I guess there's no telling what foreign cuisine will do?"

"Well, there is that, but I have the same problem here when trying out new places too. Sometimes all it takes is just one ingredient. Like, chicken. I can have barbecue chicken from two different take away shops, but one will set me off and the other won't. And I can have friends who'll eat the same chicken that set me off, and they won't have any problems," Ryan said with some disgust.

"Well, that sucks."

"You're telling me."

* * *

><p>Marie looked around at the ballroom in apprehension. When the United Guilds decide to put on a Masquerade Ball, they went all out. The ballroom was elegantly designed, with large, floor-to-ceiling windows, beautiful chandeliers and ornate panelling. Everyone was handsomely dressed even with their masks; the men all in suits and the women in their gowns. Bella Donna had been adamant about floor-length dresses.<p>

Marie was in a strapless, black gown, with a long, white silk scarf that was left hanging down her back and a pair of black opera gloves. Her hair was pulled back so her white streak also ran down her back, and between that and her furry mask, she looking a little like a skunk. Jackie's dress was a rich magenta, and her mask was magenta and black. She was also wearing a pair of matching gloves.

At the main doors, greeting everyone as they came in, was a woman whose white gown and matching mask made her look like a swan. It took Marie a moment to realise it was Bella Donna, and the man beside her in black and fuchsia was Remy (looking like nothing in particular, other than handsome). Jackie greeted her mother, and kept her head turned away while Remy greeted Marie with a brief kiss. He would have liked to have made it last longer, but their masks clashed.

"You look beautiful, chère," Remy told Marie once he was done making a spectacle.

"Really?" asked Marie. "I was going for cute."

Remy laughed. "Well, you're very cute, then."

"Thank you."

"And you look gorgeous too, Sunshine," Remy added, smiling at Jackie.

"Merci, Papa," Jackie replied dryly.

"Ahh, Marie," said Bella Donna. "It's good to see you again."

"Thanks, and you too," Marie answered politely.

"Jackie tells me you have a real boyfriend now?" Bella Donna asked, and then continued on before Marie had a chance to reply: "It's very generous of you to grant Remy a pity date."

Remy tugged Marie into him and gave Bella Donna a false smile. "And just where is your date tonight?"

Bella Donna gestured towards a man who was talking to Julien. His clothes and mask reminded Marie of Zorro.

"That poor man," said Remy. "It's bad enough he's saddled with you, but to inflict Julien on him as well?"

Before Bella Donna had a chance to retort, more guests arrived and Jackie took Marie's arm and started pulling her away from her parents, muttering something under her breath that Marie couldn't quite catch.

It was at least half an hour before the bulk of the guests had arrived and Remy and Bella Donna had a chance to escape from each other. Remy would have liked to have located Marie and monopolised her company for the evening, but instead he ended up getting caught up in conversation with other friends. Still, slowly he managed to edge his way across the hall to where Marie was chatting with Jackie and her friends. He walked up from behind and slipped his hands around Marie's waist. Marie, not having expected it, gave a cry of alarm before she realised who it was.

"Oh it's you," she said, looking back at his face over her shoulder.

"Oui," Remy replied, a grin on his face. "Jackie, I'm stealing Marie away from you again."

"Must you?" Jackie asked with a sigh. "Oh fine. But I'm stealing her off you again later."

"Aww, but you get to have her all the time," Remy replied childishly with a wink.

"Umm, I'm a person, not a trophy, or a bag of loot," Marie said.

"I don't know, chère," said Remy. "You look like booty to me."

"Mon dieu. Go, just go," Jackie said, wincing.

"That was the worst joke ever," Marie informed Remy as he led her away from the group.

"Nah, I can think of far worse ones," Remy replied, taking Marie out onto the dance floor and pulling her into his arm like he'd been dying to all night.

"Unlikely," Marie replied.

"Oh yeah? Why did the plane crash into the mountain?"

"No idea."

"The pilot was a piece of toast."

"Umm, okay," Marie replied with with a mild giggle. "That was random. How'd the plane even get in the air in the first place?"

"You're the aerospace engineering student, you tell me," Remy replied with a grin.

"Dork."

Remy chuckled. He lifted his left hand to stroke her cheek gently and Marie felt something strangely hard and unexpected against her skin. She lifted her hand to take his, and noticed the wedding ring on his finger. Right, of course, she should have remembered he'd be wearing it tonight for its "annual outing". Nevertheless, the material reminder that the man she was with was married made her feel sick.

"Symbol of eternal love, my ass," Remy said, having noticed her attention.

Marie made a noise that was a poor attempt at a laugh, and looked away from him.

"Merci for coming tonight," he went on. "You brighten up what is otherwise a miserable occasion."

Marie didn't really know what to say, so she said nothing.

"So... What's with the gloves?" Remy asked, wanting to change the subject. "Are your powers starting to come back?"

"No," Marie replied. "No, I just thought they'd go with the dress. Jackie and I did a kind of trade; I lent her a pair of my gloves, and she leant me her dress."

"Oh?" Remy asked, reappraising the black dress. "This is hers, is it? You had to borrow something, chère?"

"I don't have any floor length dresses," Marie said with a slight shrug. "Good thing we're about the same size."

"Huh, you should have told me, I would have bought you something."

"You've already bought me quite enough clothes, Remy."

Remy shrugged and pulled her closer, putting his lips by her ear (no mean feat with a mask in the way). "You know, she probably stole it."

"Aww man—"

"I think Jackie steals most of her clothes."

"I didn't need to know that," Marie said, pulling a face. "There are times when ignorance really is bliss."

Remy chuckled wickedly, and pulled back to kiss her nose.

"Asking me to pay for something for you doesn't seem so bad, does it?" he asked.

"It's dirty money, though, Swamp Rat," Marie said. "That's just as bad."

"Not necessarily," Remy replied merrily. "I do have some legitimate investments."

"I'm sure there's some sort of catch I don't want to know about."

Across the hall, Bella Donna watched expressionless while a slow song started to play and Remy and Marie swayed together on the dance floor, Marie wrapped up close in Remy's arms.

"That your daughter dancing with Remy?" asked her date, Trevor.

"No," Bella Donna replied shortly. "That's her room mate, Marie."

"He's still with her?" asked Julien.

"He's dating a college chick?" Trevor inquired in surprise.

"Oui, and oui," Bella Donna said.

"Lucky bastard," Trevor said under his breath, and then when Julien jabbed him, quickly added: "But obviously stupid. He cheated on you, after all, Belle."

"Ma sœur," Julien said to Trevor with venom is his voice, "is this finest woman to ever walk the face of the earth. I don't even have to see this Marie fille to know she pales in comparison to Belle. Watch your tongue, salaud, or I'll make sure it doesn't trouble you again."

"Julien, be nice," Bella Donna said, a frown in her voice but not on her face. "Don't mind mon frère, cher. He gets a little protective sometimes."

"Sure, sure," Trevor replied. "I have a little sister too. Well, she's not _little_ any more but—"

"I know what you mean."

A little later on, Remy was forced to leave Marie (Jackie immediately swooped in and stole her away), and make his way to Bella Donna's side. Marie couldn't concentrate on Remy and Bella Donna's speech as she was too busy stewing over Remy's question about her powers coming back. She hadn't noticed any sign of them, although, was it her imagination or had her voices started to get louder again? It had been a year since she took the Cure. Of course, she had good reason to believe it would last longer than that.

Still, she should probably make plans to have another dose before the school year was up. Marie didn't want to risk her powers coming back while she was at Xavier's for the summer. There was no way they'd let her continue taking the Cure. It was all very well and good for them to get on their high horse and tell her she was denying herself, with or without additional comments about 'traitor' and 'coward' (okay, no one had actually said that, but she knew what they were all thinking), _their_ powers were truly gifts. _Their_ powers didn't deny them basic human rights. _Their_ powers didn't emulate mental illness and threaten to drive them insane for real. Marie had no doubts about her decision to take the Cure.

Of course, if last year's deal was any indication, Remy would probably ask for another year as his mistress. Marie chewed her bottom lip. She wasn't sure what she hated more, the fact that she felt guilty, or the fact that she'd started to feel less guilty as time went by. Marie honestly enjoyed Remy's company. She was sure she'd be able to handle everything a lot better if he wasn't so insistent on making out with her (even though she enjoyed that too).

"Happy anniversary," Emil shouted at the conclusion of their speech. "You can kiss her now."

Marie vaguely recalled Emil doing the same the last time she was at one of their anniversary parties, and wondered if it was a tradition of his.

"I'll do one better," Remy replied, and turned to Bella Donna. "May I have this dance?"

"Oui, you may," Bella Donna replied.

Beside her, Jackie snickered and nudged Marie. "He just wants to get out of kissing Maman."

"Does Emil do that every year?" Marie asked as Remy led Bella Donna out onto the dance floor and the music began to play again.

"Pretty much. He's a proud troublemaker."

"I'd gotten that impression."

"I've decided though, if I ever wanted to annoy both my parents at the same time," Jackie said with a malicious grin, "all I'd have to do would be to smooch Emil."

"Oh dear," Marie said, wincing.

"It would be perfect," Jackie insisted. "Maman can't stand him, Papa would freak out about me kissing his best friend, and Emil would probably flip out too, seeing as how he's known me since I was born, and I've slept with his son."

"So, basically, you want to do to your dad with Emil what he's been doing to you with me?" Marie asked.

Jackie considered. "Yeah, pretty much. Except, y'know, I'm not actually attracted to Emil. I actually really like this plan. I must keep it in mind for a special occasion, seeing as how I'd probably only get away with it once."

Marie laughed and Jackie grinned at her.

* * *

><p>Rather than going home with Jackie as she had arrived, Marie went back to Remy's place with him. It had been a long night and she was rather hoping Remy would want to go straight to sleep.<p>

Remy's mind was not entirely on Marie when he got home. He headed straight for his bedroom, only peripherally aware that Marie was close behind, and took off his wedding ring on the way. As soon as he walked through his bedroom door, Remy's eyes focused on the jewellery box on the bedside table. He snatched it up, jammed the ring inside, then opened his bottom drawer and dropped the box inside, practically slamming the drawer open again.

"And that's good riddance for another year," he said with satisfaction.

There was a noise behind him, and he turned his head just enough to see Marie in his peripheral vision.

"Go on," Remy said. "Just say it."

"Say what?" Marie asked.

"Whatever it is that's on your mind to say."

Marie was silent for a moment, and finally said: "I know you and Bella Donna have been dealing with this...I don't know, practically my entire life, seeing as how I'm not much older than Jackie. I get that you've got some kind of understanding. I just wish I didn't feel so guilty."

Remy didn't reply. Marie put her bag on the floor, retrieved her night gown from Remy's wardrobe, where he kept it, and then quietly closed the door behind her when she left to change in Jackie's room. She did have to return the dress, and she didn't want to leave it just anywhere, or risk getting it wet in the ensuite.

When she returned, Remy was sitting on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands. As she had changed into her nightgown, he had also changed into pajama pants. Marie made her way into the ensuite to brush her teeth and when she emerged she noted that Remy had turned off the main light and turned on the light on his bedside table instead. She made her way around to "her" side of the bed and laid down next to him. Remy switched the light off, then turned over towards Marie. His hand found her face and his thumb her lips. He leaned over to kiss her.

"Good night," he said.

"Good night," she replied.

He took her hand in his and settled down to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>She was submerged in water with various restraints holding her in place. It was okay, though, she was still able to breathe. She could hear voices outside of her tank, but she was distracted from making out specific words because a motor began. A moment later she could feel thick needles being bored into her body. A hot liquid burned her flesh and bones. She wanted to scream, but the breathing apparatus prevented her. She tried to struggle, to get away, but she was held fast.<em>

"Ahh!" Marie cried out, shooting up in bed.

Remy's eyes shot open. A hand reached out and touched the touch-lamp on the bedside table and he frowned when he saw Marie, shaking and trembling in a cold sweat.

"Marie?"

When she didn't reply straight away, Remy sat up and gently rubbed her back with one hand.

"Chère?" he tried again.

"Just a bad dream," she said finally.

"Must have been one hell of a dream," Remy said. "I can't recall being woken up by a screaming nightmare before. Want to talk about it?"

Marie closed her eyes. She didn't really

"It's just... I just... My voices are never completely quiet," Marie told him. "Nowadays it's just the odd comment here and there, but when I'm not under the effects of the Cure? I hear them all the time, sometimes even when I'm asleep. Usually the worst that happens is I wake up not knowing who I am, but sometimes I relive memories that are nightmare material."

"Like tonight?"

"Mutant experimentation."

"Ahh," Remy said grimly. "Know all about that."

Marie managed a slight smile, although Remy wasn't in the right position to see it.

"Sorry I woke you," she said.

"I'll get over it," he replied. "Are _you_ okay? Did you want me to get you anything?"

"I'll be fine."

"You sure? Water? A hot drink?" he asked. "A big strong man to chase the dreams away?"

Marie laughed and turned her head to look at him. There was a smile on Remy's face, but genuine concern in his eyes.

"That last one sounds good, but where are you going to find a big strong man this time of night?" she asked.

"Good to see you've still got your sense of humour," Remy replied, wrapping her up in his arms.

Marie sighed and closed her eyes again as Remy guided them both back down to the bed. Just having someone there to comfort her was making her feel a whole lot better.

"Thanks, Remy," she said softly.

Remy kissed her forehead and turned the light back off.

"Least I could do, chère. Least I could do."

* * *

><p>Remy altered his plan of attack the next morning. As far as his plot to ensure Marie would buy another dose of the Cure off him was concerned, he was fairly certain that the nightmare she'd had pretty much guaranteed she'd be back for more. However, the fact that she felt guilty about being with him could cause a problem. He needed to find a way to make her think that their relationship wasn't all that bad.<p>

He had originally intended on making a longer day of it. Instead, he decided to work with the fact that he'd comforted her the night before. He wanted her to remember that, and he wanted her to remember having a pleasant breakfast and conversation. It would have to be a shorter day, but it was probably better that way. The more he was with her, the more he wanted to kiss and touch her, and even the slightest hint of romance or sex right now would only serve to hinder his plans.

So after an uneventful breakfast and an extended conversation, Remy took Marie home. As much as he would have loved to have laid a passionate kiss on her lips, he instead kissed her hand gently and wished her well.

"Well, umm," Marie said. "I guess I'll call you again in the next couple of weeks and arrange a time to discuss another dose."

Remy nodded. "I'll be sure to answer then."

"No doubt," she replied with a slight smile.

* * *

><p>Jackie was rather surprised to see Marie arrive in the dorm room.<p>

"Huh," she said. "I thought Papa was planning on keeping you longer."

"So did I," Marie replied, putting her bag down. "But hey, I'm not complaining about getting out early. Oh, thanks again for the loan of the dress. Where did you want me to put it?"

"Just on the bed will be fine," Jackie replied, going through the wardrobe. "I was about to head out anyway."

* * *

><p>Later that day, Remy stood in the centre of a bedroom. In front of him was a bed, and on the wall on either side were a number of sex toys. The bed itself had a multitude of holes built into it for securing things, and people.<p>

Standing in front of the bed was a shapely woman with her black hair tied back and completely clothed in black leather. She slapped the end on her riding crop into her palm while she looked at Remy.

"Close the door," she said.

"Oui ma'am," Remy replied, turning and shutting the door he'd just walked through.

"Did I tell you to speak?"

"Don't recall hearing that, no," he said, turning back to face her.

The woman glared at him. "Yet you continue to speak."

"You didn't tell me to stop either," Remy pointed out, a slight smile on his face.

"Oh?" she said. "Being a smart ass, are we?"

"Well, _I_ am," Remy replied, smirking. "I don't know about you."

"Pants. Off. Now," she commanded with a voice of cold steel. "And hand me your belt."

* * *

><p>Marie followed Ryan into his dorm room, and raised her eyebrow as she watched him take great delight in hanging a sock on the hallway side of the door.<p>

"Okay?" she inquired as Ryan shut the door.

"My room mate said we needed a signal so that when we had, uhh, company over the other one wouldn't accidentally walk in on... umm... yeah," Ryan replied, in a mix of delight and embarrassment. "He's always leaving socks on the door."

"Ahh," Marie said, understanding. "And now the tables have turned, huh?"

"Yeah. It's kinda novel."

Marie chuckled

"So umm," Ryan said, looking around the mess that was his room. "Sorry about the mess."

"It's fine," Marie said as Ryan started moving things out of the way. "I've seen worse."

Marie sat down on the bed she assumed was Ryan's, judging from the Star Wars sheets, and then laughed softly when Ryan turned, realised that a girl was on his geeky bed, and started turning a little red. It was funny; he was fine when they were just doing normal, 'friend' things, but as soon as there was any kind of reminder that they were dating, Ryan started getting nervous. Marie patted the bed beside her and Ryan tentatively sat down.

"So," Marie said coyly. "Now that your room mate knows not to come in here, what were you planning on doing with me?"

"Oh, umm, I..." Ryan stammered uncertainly.

Marie laughed again, leaned into him and kissed him. He kissed her back and only slightly relaxed when Marie put her arms around him. There was a little hesitation, and then Ryan put his arms around her as well. Marie deepened the kiss, and Ryan's grip on her tightened, like he wasn't sure what he should be doing with his hands. Marie sat up on the bed so that one leg was underneath her, and then guided Ryan's hand down to her other leg. Ryan left his hand there, not daring to move it.

He was nothing like Remy.

Marie momentarily stiffened at the unbidden comparison. Fortunately, Ryan didn't notice her lapse, nor did he notice Marie mentally berate herself. Of course Ryan was nothing like Remy, and so what if Ryan was unsure of himself when it came to making out? He wasn't married, a thief, or a womaniser, and that was a good thing.

* * *

><p>Jackie sat in the restaurant with Remy and Bella Donna a couple of weeks later. It was her twenty-first birthday.<p>

"And what are your plans for tomorrow night with your friends?" Bella Donna asked.

Jackie shrugged. "Some of the guys think I need to get smashed now that I can legally drink. Whatever. We're having a party. Marie's bringing cake."

"You and Marie seem to have become good friends," Bella Donna said, without so much as a flicker in Remy's direction.

"Yeah, we have actually," Jackie replied. "She has some weird ideas sometimes though."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well," Jackie said, considering, "she seems to think that if you find something that belongs to someone else, you should return it. And you shouldn't even expect anything in return for returning it either. It should be done out of the kindness of your heart." Jackie snorted. "How stupid is that? If they're that careless with their things, they deserve to lose them."

"That's 'cause Marie is what's known as a 'good person', Sunshine," Remy said with a slight smile on his face. "They like to do the decent thing."

"You should probably think about paying attention to some of Marie's attitudes," Bella Donna said, reaching for her glass of wine. "Emulating them may aid you in a future job."

"I guess," Jackie conceded glumly.

"And wasn't that your whole reasoning for staying in the dorms in the first place?" Bella Donna asked. "To get to know average people?"

"Yeah."

"Although, I do have to say, I'm a little concerned about how much Marie knows," Bella Donna went on. "She knows about the Guild, she presumably knows about your mutation, and she knows about your future career plans, right?"

"Well, I never intended on Marie finding out about the Guild," Jackie said with a pointed look at Remy. "That was all Papa's idea. However, if it makes you feel any better, I did hand pick Marie as my room mate."

"You did?" Remy asked.

Jackie nodded. "I knew whoever I ended up rooming with was bound to find out about my mutation. So I hacked into the system to investigate the applicants. You won't believe how excited I was when I found out Marie graduated from Xaviers. I was worried it was going to be a real headache to find an appropriate room mate."

"Xaviers?" Bella Donna asked. "Isn't that the mutant school in New York? The one that tried to recruit you, Remy?"

"Oui," Remy confirmed.

"And you thought one of the _X-men_ would make a good _room mate_?" Bella Donna demanded.

"What?" asked Jackie. "The X-men are interested in mutant rights, not law enforcement. And frankly, it might have been better for me if they were. Can you imagine the connections they might have? That one guy, Hank McCoy, he's associated with the X-men, and he's the United Nations rep. You never know, Maman, we might still have a profitable relationship."

"Or she'll turn you in," Bella Donna said sharply.

"There are other benefits to being friends with a good person," Remy said, looking at Jackie. "One of them being their loyalty. Just don't involve Marie in any of your jobs—which you shouldn't do anyway—and she will happily bury her head in the sand about what you do. Unless, of course, she or the X-men ever need your services, at which point it's pretty much guaranteed she'll never turn you in."

"Unless she has a crisis of conscience," Bella Donna said.

"Other benefits include always having someone to talk to, who'll keep your confidences, and who'll stick with you through thick and thin," Remy said.

"That's criteria for a good friend, not a good person."

"But good people make the best of good friends. They don't try to rob, blackmail or otherwise cheat you."

"How would you know? You don't have any good people as good friends."

"And you don't have any good friends. Hell, you don't even have friends, only minions."

"Ahem," Jackie cut in. "Remember rule number one? No fighting."

"Désolé, Sunshine," Remy said.

"Also, since Marie is Papa's...mistress," Jackie went on, unable to hide her distaste at that idea, "she's technically a taboo subject. Maman, I get that you're concerned about the security risk she poses, but I promise you, I will keep an eye on her, and if...if I have to, I have to."

"You just be as good a friend to her as she is to you, and I'm sure it won't come to that," Remy said firmly, having noted the reluctance in Jackie's voice at the very idea of having to kill her friend.

Jackie nodded.

"Now," Jackie went on professionally, "it's my birthday, and I don't intend to waste it discussing Guild stuff or the security risks my friends pose."

* * *

><p>It was only a few days later that Marie walked into Remy's house once again, this time for a negotiation. She had been putting a lot of thought into it, and decided that she could handle this arrangement a lot better if she could push for 'friends' rather than 'lovers'. She wasn't planning on telling Remy this, of course. She was simply going to start suggesting dates which would conveniently involve doing non-romantic things. Knowing that Remy would want to increase the price, Marie had taken Jackie's advice from the year before and tried to think of all the possibilities and which ones were least objectionable, and which would aid in her scheme to distract Remy from her "just friends" plot.<p>

They sat down on the lounge. Remy put out a couple of drinks for them.

"I don't suppose it's too much to ask if I just offer the same deal we had last year in exchange for a dose of the Cure?" Marie asked. "After all, our relationship quality has improved since then."

Remy chuckled, his glass in hand.

"Nice try, chère," he said. "But I want to see more of you, in all meanings of the phrase."

"Fine," Marie said with a sigh. "Upgrade from twelve dates to fourteen, and instead of wearing a nightgown and bed shorts to bed, I'll wear a tank top and bed shorts."

Marie figured neither of those was a real sacrifice on her part. She didn't think two extra dates would interfere too much with the rest of her life, and her nightgown had a tendency to ride up in her sleep anyway. Remy eyed her like she was in her night clothes already.

"I think we should date every deux weeks during the school year," he said casually.

"Forget it," Marie said firmly. "I can't afford to make that kind of commitment. Especially when I'm also dating Ryan."

"Not that I object to you dating Ryan, as that would be pretty hypocritical of me," Remy said, "but that's not my concern."

"Well, it is mine," Marie said. "And I'll have you know, that I won't even go out on dates with him when I've got a heavy study workload to deal with. _Especially_ when I have lots of exams coming up."

"Eighteen dates."

"Fourteen dates, one of which may be a weekend date."

Remy paused and eyed her curiously. "A weekend date?"

"What?" Marie asked. "You can't mean to tell me that you've never taken one of your mistresses on a weekend away or something?"

"I have," Remy said, nodding his head slowly. "Two weekend dates."

"As long as they're during breaks, and not semesters."

"Fine by me. I'd rather you weren't distracted by school anyway," he said. "As for your sleepwear, I think we should move up to underwear."

"Absolutely not," said Marie, glaring at him.

"Why? You've already just about in underwear," Remy replied, running his eyes over her, as if back to imagining her in her night clothes.

"I retain some modesty in a tank and shorts," Marie said with dignity. "Underwear is too private, and much too skimpy. And if I know you, you'll probably end up buying me some more, which will leave nothing to the imagination."

"Oh?" Remy asked slyly. "So you want me to imagine you like that?"

"Not really," Marie replied, trying to ignore the blush.

"Hmm. Alright, but you have to actually wear the underwear I bought you occasionally," Remy said. "It makes me sad to think of it up in my wardrobe, gathering dust."

"Well, I was hardly going to take it back to the dorm and try to explain to Jackie that her father bought me underwear," she said. "Still, I guess I don't have to take it back in the actual bags, and she's not normally home when you take me home, so I could probably get away with it."

"So concerned?"

"That girl notices everything," Marie grumbled, "even when she's asleep."

Remy laughed.

"Alright," he said. "To recap, you wear the underwear I bought you—"

"Which you're not going to see me wear."

"—which you are under no obligation to show me," Remy went on blithely. "You also wear a tank top and shorts to bed instead of a nightgown and shorts—oh goody, I get to see your stomach as well as your knees. You love me, you really love me."

"Dork."

Remy grinned at her. "I guess I'm still stuck wearing pants to bed?"

"Yep."

"I can't talk you into underwear at all?"

"Boxers or briefs?"

"Boxers."

"They're okay."

"What's wrong with briefs?" he asked mischievously.

"They don't leave a whole lot to the imagination."

"Oh? So you _want_ to imagine—"

"No!"

"You do wonders for my ego, chère," he said, chuckling at the disgusted look on her face. "Okay, I get to wear boxers to bed. We'll also have fourteen dates, plus two weekend dates—"

"No," Marie interrupted firmly. "Twelve regular dates and two weekend dates, for a total of fourteen dates."

"Désolé, I must have misunderstood," Remy replied innocently.

"Yeah, right."

"You wound me," Remy said. "This is why we recap, so that we know that both parties have agreed to the same thing, and so there aren't any misunderstandings. Speaking of which, that reminds me of something I wanted to clarify."

"Yeah?" Marie asked, not without a trace of suspicion.

"Would you agree that kissing is a form of touching?" Remy asked.

Marie blinked in surprise. That wasn't the kind of question she was expecting.

"Umm, well, yeah," she said slowly.

"Bon. And what about licking? You agree that's a form of touching also?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Marie said cautiously, sensing she had agreed to something else as well. "A very wet, sloppy form of touching."

"That's what I thought too. Just checking we're on the same page," Remy said. "Okay, we've covered dates, nightwear and underwear. Anything else you can think of?"

"I don't believe that any further changes to our agreement are necessary," Marie said.

"Then if we're agreed, I'll get you your dose of the Cure," Remy said as he stood up.

"We are," Marie said.

Remy gave a nod and headed off. Marie picked up her glass, thinking over their discussion. She had no doubt that even as she had laid the groundwork for her "just friends" plot, Remy had furthered his plans to seduce her. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face. This was certainly going to be interesting.

Marie sipped her drink. She was much happier about this year's arrangement than last year's. She supposed that was a little strange, given that this year's arrangement required that little bit more of her. She guessed she was happier because she knew Remy a lot better than she had a year ago, and she was more confident she wouldn't lose control of the situation.

Remy soon returned. He sat back down next to her on the lounge and swabbed her offered arm.

"Last chance to back out," he said with a slight smile.

"I'll take a Disney Princess band-aid this time," Marie replied.

Remy chuckled. He injected her, then patched her up and finally disposed of the evidence in his usual way.

"Working yet?" he asked her.

Marie nodded. She had felt the voices fading away into silence once more. "Yes."

"Oh good," Remy said, moving in on her, "now for post-negotiation making out."

Marie didn't even have a chance to laugh before Remy's lips were on hers.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Weekend dates?" Jackie exclaimed, regarding Marie with horror in the privacy of their dorm room. "And you _agreed_ to that?"

"Actually," Marie said, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, feeling awkward standing in the middle of the room while Jackie was sitting on her bed, "it was my idea."

"Are you sure it was your idea and not Papa tricking you into thinking it was your idea?" Jackie asked. "Because he's very good at that."

"It was my idea. I thought of it before we even had the meeting."

"Why the hell would you do a stupid thing like that!"

"It's not stupid," Marie said, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Look, we both know your dad is trying to seduce me—"

"Ugh."

"But I just want to be friends with him at most."

"How does a _weekend date _make anything 'just friends'?" Jackie demanded.

"Normally, it wouldn't," Marie replied, "but your dad has been getting me to stay overnight whenever we have a date anyway. Staying over two nights in a row isn't really that big a deal. But it makes it seem like he's getting to me right? If it seems like I'm coming to the party on my own, he's less likely to question it when I suggest locations for dates."

"Like what?" Jackie asked, frowning thoughtfully at Marie.

"I don't know. Fun stuff, like... going to an amusement park or something," Marie said. "We've done a lot of dinners, movies, theatres, dancing. Lots of things involving dark, intimate places."

"Ahh," Jackie said, nodding her head as realisation dawned. "You want to steer him to bright, not-so-intimate places."

"Exactly," Marie said smugly. "And, I'm going to need a crash course on how to trick your dad into suggesting less romantic dates too. I have this idea to distract him from what I'm doing, but I not sure how to present it."

Jackie's expression was positively gleeful. "Do tell."

* * *

><p>Remy was halfway up the stairs in the dormitory to Jackie and Marie's room that following Friday night, when he happened upon another resident on his way down. The young man was thin, but with the beginnings of a beer gut and he had short dark hair.<p>

"Hey," he said to Remy, taking in his good clothes. "You're Jackie's father, right?"

"Oui," Remy replied.

"I'm Toby," he said. "I'm a friend of Jackie and Marie."

"Always a pleasure to meet one of Jackie's friends," Remy said with a nod, and started to continue his way up the stairs.

"So," said Toby from where he stood in the middle of the staircase, "are the flowers for Jackie or Marie?"

Remy glanced down at the small bouquet in his hands.

"They're for the room, of course," Remy replied as if this should be obvious. "It's so bare and lifeless, and Jackie never does anything to liven the place up. That room is just begging for a little interior decorating."

"Oookay," Toby said, eyeing Remy like he was some sort of weirdo. "Marie said you were painting her?"

"Don't be silly," Remy said, having remembered Jackie and Marie's previous cover story. "I paint on canvas, not bodies."

"I meant, painting a picture of Marie on canvas," Toby said quickly.

"Shh!" Remy hissed at him. "Don't say it aloud!"

"Uhh...okay... Why not?"

"The canvas might hear you, and it's better if it doesn't know," Remy said, glancing around furtively. "It likes to sabotage my work you see. Must be stealthy."

"Oh," Toby said, deciding that Jackie's father was insane. "Is that why you paint at night, instead of during the day when there would be better light?"

Remy nodded. "That's it exactly. Good to know Jackie has such smart friends. Quiet now. The canvas has ears, even here."

"Okay, well, I'll just let you on your way then."

"Merci."

Remy headed up the stairs and Toby shook his head as he headed down. Soon, Remy was at the door. He knocked and Jackie was quick to open it.

"Come on in," Jackie said, holding the door open for him. "Marie's just in the bathroom."

Remy nodded as he stepped inside.

"Bumped into someone named Toby on the stairs," Remy said while Jackie closed the door behind him.

"Oh yeah?" Jackie asked. "How'd that go?"

Remy shrugged. "He probably thinks I'm crazy."

"Oh? So you let him get to see the real you then?" Jackie asked with a slight smirk.

"I'm playing up the eccentric artist. I told him that the canvas conspires against me, so I have to try and sneak up on it whenever I want to paint something," Remy said, grinning at Jackie. "This is also why I paint at night instead of during the day. Oh, and the flowers are for your decor-starved room, because it's in dire need of interior decorating."

Jackie laughed.

"Now I can't wait to bump into him again," she said gleefully.

"Just don't exaggerate too much," Remy said. "I'm going for eccentric, not insane."

"Isn't money the only difference between eccentricity and insanity?" Marie asked from behind them.

They turned to see Marie standing just outside the bathroom door, wearing the red dress that Remy had bought her the previous Christmas and a pair of high heels.

"Possibly," said Remy, looking her over appreciatively, "and may I say you look gorgeous, ma chère?"

"You may," Marie replied.

Jackie turned her head away, pretending that her father wasn't blatantly checking out her friend.

"Well, you look gorgeous," Remy said with a grin, walking out and holding out the flowers. "For you."

"Thanks, Remy," Marie said.

"By the way, Sunshine," Remy went on while Marie put the flowers into the vase on her desk, "do your friends know your mère and I have different lastnames?"

"Umm, no," Jackie said, then added almost spitefully: "We have more important things to talk about."

"Good to know," Remy replied evenly. "I should probably arrange to have a painting actually painted. We can say it was one I wasn't happy with, and Marie can bring it back to show everyone, and maybe douse any more of Toby's suspicions."

"That would be very kind of you, sugar," Marie said, a smile on her lips.

Remy shrugged. "Ready to go?"

"Whenever you are."

Marie started to reach for her bag, which was packed with her clothes for the next day, but Remy snapped it up before she could get it, slung it over his shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist. Jackie watched as Remy led Marie out the door, and then smirked as it closed behind them.

"Good luck, Marie," she said to herself.

* * *

><p>Remy did enjoy playing games of pool with women wearing tight little dresses, and Marie was no exception. He watched while she leaned over, lining up the cue ball with the 4-ball, and couldn't wait to get his hands on her later. As it was, he couldn't resist the urge to grab her behind briefly when he went to take his turn after the 4-ball failed to fall into the pocket.<p>

Remy took his shots quickly, wanting to get back to enjoying the view. When he straightened up, however, he saw Marie with her back to him and in conversation with a man closer to her age. Remy clenched his jaw in an attempt to fight off the stab of jealously and then wrapped his free arm around Marie's waist.

"Your turn, chère," Remy said with a false calm. "This guy bothering you?"

"He's just a little disappointed I wouldn't let him buy me a drink," Marie replied. "That's all."

"Wait, you're with him?" the other man asked. "I thought you were just hustling him at pool or something."

Marie laughed. "If only I was that good."

"Hmm, sounds like something a hustler would say," Remy said with a slight smile. "Well, mon ami, I'm sure that there's some other femme here who would love to have you spend money on her."

"Are you sure you wouldn't want someone closer to your league, chère?" asked the other man. "You know, someone who doesn't look old enough to be your père."

Remy's grip on Marie tightened.

"Nah, I like this one," Marie replied with a warmness in her voice that countered the ice-cold glare she was giving her would-be suitor. "He's polite, chivalrous, and doesn't try to steal other men's dates."

Remy chuckled while the other man finally got the hint and backed off.

"Everyone wants a piece of you, don't they, chère?" Remy said as he let go of Marie.

"I think I'd prefer someone who wants the whole package," Marie replied, picking up the chalk to dust off the end of her cue. "Not just a piece."

"I wouldn't mind having all of you," Remy said as he brushed past.

"Well, that wouldn't be a fair exchange," Marie replied as she studied the balls on the pool table. "I can't have all of you in return."

"You can have all the parts of me that count."

"That's just wishful thinking, sugar."

* * *

><p>It was not in Marie's interest for Remy to be thinking about how they couldn't be together, at least, not in the short term when she was counting on his infatuation to keep him from seeing what she was up to. It was this that occupied her mind while she was lip-locked with Remy as they got out of the car and headed inside his house.<p>

She could justify letting his hands go up the skirt of her dress again because she was going to save herself feeling a whole lot more guilt later and she was not at all disappointed when he removed his hand in order to unlock the door. Really, she wasn't. Okay, so Remy seemed to know exactly where to touch her, and how, and used just the right amount of pressure, it didn't mean that when he put his hand back after pushing the door open that she was excited about it or anything. She didn't get any kind of thrill when he got her down on the lounge either, or when he ran his hands down her legs or kissed her lips, neck or down the exposed valley between her breasts, courtesy of the halter neckline of the dress.

Marie assured herself that she wasn't leading him on by letting him do this; it was what she agreed to let him do with her when they made the deal in the first place. And it wasn't manipulative of her to try and change the direction of their dates either; he'd never specified in the agreement what they should do on their dates, only that they should have them.

Remy was a little surprised that Marie let his get his face as close to her breasts as it did, but he figured it was because he was doing something right. She did freeze when his fingers grazed the edge of her underwear, and he pulled his hand back, not wanting to push things to the point where she started revoking privileges just when things were getting interesting. He couldn't help but smile just a little has he continued kissing her when she undid his shirt. Abruptly, the urge to get her out of her little red dress was overwhelming. It was a good thing Marie was on her back, because it felt like that was the only thing stopping him from pulling down the zipper of her dress.

"Wanna go upstairs and slip into something more comfortable?" Remy asked.

"Sure," Marie replied.

Remy stood, helped Marie up and started to lead her towards the stairs when she pulled out of his arms. Hurt gave way to confusion when he saw her headed back to the door that lead to the garage.

"Chère?"

"I left my bag in the car."

"Oh, right. You'd probably want that, huh?"

Marie gave him a slight grin. "Especially as it has my new night clothes in it."

Remy laughed, and pulled her back to him long enough to give her another kiss.

* * *

><p>Remy wasn't really all that impressed when Marie stepped out of the ensuite wearing a "Hello Kitty" tank top. He was sitting on the edge of the bed in his boxers, with his legs spread.<p>

"Chère," he complained. "What you coming out wearing something cute for?"

"I thought you liked cute," Marie replied mischievously as she sauntered over to him and stood between his legs.

"Not _that_ cute," Remy replied, his hands taking hold of her hips.

"Aww, my bad," she said, sliding her hands onto his shoulders.

"You know," he said slyly as he tugged her into him, "there is a babydoll in the wardrobe you haven't worn yet..."

"What about it?" Marie asked, pretending not to get the hint and busying herself with moulding the firm muscle in his arms and torso, hoping that he'll get distracted enough to drop it.

"Well," Remy said, "technically, it's nightwear, not underwear."

Marie's only reply was to kiss him. She wasn't going to bring up their agreement tonight, nor was she going to get into a nightwear debate.

The kissing seemed to work. Remy's hands slipped up from her hips to her stomach, and Marie practically pushed him onto his back on the bed. She let Remy get away with lifting up her tank top to the bottom of her rib cage. It wasn't the first time he'd touched her stomach, although it was usually through clothes. In any case, it seemed on par with—if not a lesser evil than—letting his hands go up her skirt. Not that she was making any excuses to allow his glorious hands further access to her body, nope not her.

* * *

><p>As he was prone to do, when Remy woke the next morning, the first thing he did was to roll over and cuddle up with Marie. It felt so good holding her in his arms. He liked to pretend that Marie was really his and that Bella Donna—and Ryan—didn't exist.<p>

"Morning, sugar," Marie said.

Remy smiled and kissed her cheek gently from behind. "Morning, chérie."

Although Remy managed to get away with holding Marie awhile longer, getting up was inevitable. Marie was first out of bed and Remy grunted with displeasure when he saw the Hello Kitty picture on her tank top. It was weird, he could handle that from anyone else but Marie, on whom it was a reminder of the age difference between them and one of many reasons why she could do so much better than him. Obviously, the shirt would have to go. Maybe it could be mysteriously replaced with a different one.

Marie headed for the shower, taking her bag with her, which had her change of clothes. Remy headed downstairs to make breakfast, stopping only to put on a pair of jeans. He was rather pleased when he timed the cooking of the eggs perfectly; he was just finished serving them when Marie (now dressed) sat down at the counter. He smiled when she thanked him.

"My pleasure," he said as he sat down next to her.

It was quiet while they ate, but it was a companionable silence, rather than an awkward one. Remy was rather pleased about this.

Partway through breakfast, Marie finally spoke:

"So, I was thinking about what you said the other... however long ago it was," she said. "About how I had to have sex in the backseat of a car at least once."

Remy paused briefly in the midst of scooping up some more eggs on his fork.

"Oh yeah?" he asked, tried not to sound too hopeful, and then because he couldn't help himself: "What? Right now? Well, if you insist..."

"Ugh," Marie said. "That's not at all what I meant, Swamp Rat."

Remy grinned at her.

"It just got me thinking about all the other stuff I'd like to do in my lifetime," Marie said seriously. "So I've decided to make a list. I was wondering if you had any ideas of things to add to it."

"A hundred things to do before you die, hein?" Remy asked.

"Something like that."

"Hmm. Join the Mile High Club."

"Be serious."

"I am. Public sex is awesome."

Marie groaned and buried her face in her hand. Remy chuckled.

"It is," he insisted. "The riskier the sex, the more the adrenaline pumps, the more adrenaline, the greater the thrill ride."

"I'm not putting any form of public sex on the list," Marie said firmly. "For one thing, that's kind of dependant on what my partner is comfortable doing, and I'm not going to sleep with just anyone. Come on, Remy. I'm sure you've done lots of cool stuff. I want some more ideas."

Remy shrugged. "What have you got on the list so far? Other than backseat of the car sex."

"See the Eiffel Tower," Marie replied with a slight grin. "Along with a stack of other places overseas I'd like to go to. Graduate college. Go skydiving."

"Done that."

"Yeah, Jackie was saying you guys had all done that," Marie said dryly. "I'd gotten the impression it wasn't just about fun though."

Remy chuckled. "I'm sure I could arrange for you to go up sometime. My baby might not fly any more, but I've access to plenty of other planes."

"Sure," Marie said, and Remy loved the way her smile lit up her face. "That would be great."

"No problem," he replied, pleased that he'd made her happy. "So, what else you got?"

"Swim with sharks."

"Oh fun. Hey you know what you should do?"

"Yeah?"

"Gamble in Vegas."

Marie gave Remy an unconvinced look. "I'm not really a gambling person."

"So?" Remy asked. "It's about the experience. It's about being able to say afterwards, I did this thing. Isn't that the whole point of your list?"

"Well, yeah," Marie said. "I just don't see what the thrill is in loosing thousands of dollars in a casino, regardless of where it is."

"It's not about the money," Remy insisted. "You spend money when you go on vacation, no? Money's just a tool. As long as you go into the casino not expecting to get anything out of it but a good time, and don't bring any more money with you than you're willing to spend, you're all good."

"I guess."

"I took Jackie to Vegas before the whole college thing started," Remy said. "She didn't do too badly, actually."

Marie frowned a little. "Vegas? But she only just turned twenty-one."

"Your point?"

"Oh right," Marie said. "I swear, you're the only parent I've ever met that actually condoned and encouraged their child to use fake ID."

"Condone, encourage, and _supply_ fake ID," Remy said with a grin.

Then his face fell and he picked at what was left of his breakfast.

"Remy?" she asked. "Everything alright?"

He shrugged.

"Yeah," he said. "I just wish she wasn't still mad at me for, well, for dating you."

"Well, wouldn't you feel embarrassed if your dad started dating one of your friends?" Marie asked.

"No, not really," Remy replied after a moment's thought. "But I would wonder why my friend would be interested. Although he is in pretty good shape for someone his age."

Marie laughed and Remy grinned at her.

"I think his wife might have a few things to say about it, though," he added.

"Probably," Marie replied, paused and then reached over and took his hand in hers as a significant thought occurred to her.

"Thank you," she said shyly.

"For what?" Remy asked, looking a little puzzled.

"For charging me something I could afford," she said, lowering her eyes. "I have no idea how I would have raised that kind of money if you wanted cash. I might have had to join a real escort agency, or worse, become a...a pros..." Marie swallowed hard, not willing to finish that particular sentence. "Then I really would have been a crack whore."

Remy frowned and put two fingers under her chin, lifting her head so he could look her in the eye.

"You're not a crack whore, chère," he said gently.

"Well, you know," Marie replied. "It's either that, or a housebreaker."

"Heh, house was already broken long before you showed up," Remy said with a wry grin. "You're more like a house stomper."

Marie laughed and Remy stroked her cheek.

"Would never make one of Jackie's friends—or one of mine either—resort to prostitution," he said firmly. "I regularly hire hookers, and even the ones in good brothels have horror stories."

"Then why do you hire them?" Marie asked.

"Hey, even whores deserve to have good customers," Remy replied, and because he couldn't help himself added with a sly grin: "Although, if _you_ ever decided to pursue that career path, I'd pay a princely sum to be your _only_ customer."

"Well, if I ever decide I'm tired of having my dignity, I'll let you know," Marie said dryly.

Remy chuckled and kissed the back of her hand. "I'm just as happy to be dating you, chère. I've been enjoying your company."

"I've been enjoying yours too."

Now if only Marie could stop feeling guilty about enjoying his company, she'd be happy. Not to mention feeling just a little bit guilty about trying to redirect their dates when he was doing her a favour. Marie was getting really tired of feeling guilty.

Still, Remy seemed capable of a lot more compassion than Marie ever would have expected from a crime lord. She never would have picked that, going from his daughter. Jackie rarely demonstrated any compassion, and Marie wondered just how many of Jackie's few "acts of kindness" were really just a front for an ulterior motive.

* * *

><p>Later that day:<p>

"So, how'd it go?" Jackie asked.

"It's a good thing I'm not a gambler," Marie said, "'cause I would have lost."

Jackie laughed. "I _knew_ he'd suggest Vegas."

* * *

><p>The following Monday, in the sci-fi and fantasy club room at the college, Jackie waited for Toby's arrival. They often missed each other over the weekend, as they often did despite living in the same dorm block. Sure enough, as soon as Toby appeared in the doorway, the first thing he did was look for Jackie.<p>

"Is your dad for real?" Toby asked the moment his eyes locked with Jackie.

"Of course mon père is real," Jackie replied mischievously. "Mère hardly conceived me by herself, you know."

"What's this?" asked Chris.

"I met Jackie's dad the other night," Toby said, then added slyly: "Picking up Marie for a date. He had flowers and everything."

Marie ignored everyone who took that moment to look at her.

"The flowers were for the room," Jackie said. "It offends his artistic sensibilities."

"Yeah, right," Toby said. "If your dad is _really_ so concerned about the room, why doesn't he give fake flowers instead? And what about some of those paintings he apparently paints. For an artist, he didn't exactly have much paint on him."

"Of course he didn't," Jackie replied cheerfully. "If he wore clothes with paint on them, the canvas might suspect it's going to get painted on, and start plotting to foil him."

"You don't seriously believe that," Toby said.

"I don't, but Papa does," Jackie said, with a straight face as she swung her legs back and forth over the edge of the table. "He also believes that fake flowers are made with the souls of real flowers, and they get so angry at being trapped that when they finally free themselves, they take the souls of whoever owns them and traps them in the fake flowers."

"That's stupid," said Toby. "Flowers don't have souls."

"Oh yeah? Haven't you heard of nymphs?

"They're not real," he insisted, then added slyly: "Unless you're talking about nymphomaniacs."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Sandra. "I thought nymphs were only interested in having fun... In whatever form that might take."

"Well, I don't imagine being trapped in a fake flower would be fun," Jackie replied loftily. "Don't ask me to explain Papa's logic. Seriously, this is coming from the mind of someone who thinks the canvas is trying to prevent him from painting his masterpiece."

"Hear that Marie," Toby said slyly, looking at where Marie was quietly sitting in the corner. "You're a masterpiece."

"Actually," Marie said, "I'm a muse."

Jackie held in a laugh.

"A muse?" Toby repeated.

"He says I inspire him," Marie explained.

"But the muses are for written works," Sandra pointed out. "Poetry and stuff."

"That's what the canvas thinks too," Jackie said.

"So Jackie," said Chris. "What's he on, and where can I get it?"

"Who, Papa?"

"Yeah. He's obviously smoking something."

"Umm, cigarettes? Your local convenience store?"

"No really, he's gotta be on some sort of crack."

"Nah, mon père doesn't need mind altering drugs," Jackie replied grinning at Toby. "He _is _a mind altering drug."

* * *

><p>Marie was a little surprised when Remy arranged for the next date to happen during the day on a Saturday. She was also a little suspicious it was part of some plot to monopolise more of her time, by getting them to meet earlier and still having her sleep over. She was further antagonised by him telling her to bring multiple changes of clothes, and then refusing to tell her what he had planned.<p>

It was with much trepidation that Marie sat in the front seat of the car as Remy drove further and further away from the city centre. Blocks thick with buildings gave way to vast expanses of green and concrete, and tall fences.

"Where are we going?" Marie asked for the umpteenth time that day.

"Almost there," Remy replied. "But you should be able to see a few clues about now."

Marie looked back out and frowned slightly when she noted a couple of small planes. He had asked her to bring clothes… he wasn't planning on taking her for an impromptu holiday somewhere was he? He didn't get any weekend dates until November at the earliest.

They pulled out at some gates and Remy got out long enough to unlock them. He locked the gates again after driving past, and then they went down the drive to the hanger, where they parked. Marie followed Remy out of the car, and inside. There were a number of planes of different varieties in place.

"Hey Chuck!" Remy called. "You here yet?"

"Just a sec!" a voice called back.

Marie frowned thoughtfully as she looked at all the planes all lined up. Hadn't Remy told her recently he had access to planes other than his "baby" not that long ago?

"Are we going sky diving?" she asked cautiously.

Remy grinned. "Oui."

"Seriously?"

"You said you wanted to go. I said I'd take you."

"I wasn't expecting anything, 'least not so soon," Marie replied. "And what's with the extra clothes then? Red herring?"

"I wish I could say 'yes'," Remy said with a smile. "But, no. You'll find out later."

"Hmph," she grumbled, then gestured to the planes. "Your baby here?"

Remy's face lit up, and he started walking to the far end, gesturing to Marie to follow.

"There she is," he said proudly, gesturing to a little plane that had definitely seen better days. "She's seen me through some good times, haven't you, baby?"

"Now all she's good for is scrap metal," said a male voice behind them.

"Not my baby!" Remy objected, running forward to wrap his arms around his plane as far as they would go.

Marie laughed and turned to look at Chuck. He was short, black haired, probably about Remy's age, and was smirking at the other man.

"When he first got that thing," Chuck said, grinning at Marie, "Belle accused him of loving it more than her."

"It's true," Remy said, patting the plane affectionately before returning to where Marie and Chuck were standing. "I do love my baby more than Belle. Of course, I didn't realise it at the time."

"Best investment you ever made, right?" Chuck asked. "Won her in a game, spent way too much on fuel and repairs—"

"Stole a lot of parts for her."

"—and now she just sits here all day every day and annoys the crap out of Belle just by existing."

"Exactly!" Remy said gleefully.

Marie laughed.

"Well, I'm sorry I didn't get to see her in her prime," she said.

"Ha! _Remy_ hasn't even seen her in her prime," Chuck scoffed good-naturedly.

"Silence you," said Remy. "We flying or not?"

"I'm flying," said Chuck. "You two are jumping, and we're ready to go whenever you are."

"Excellent."

* * *

><p>Later, in flight:<p>

"Oooh," Marie said as she stepped into the back of the plane, now wearing her sky diving gear. "Parachutes! That's already an improvement on the last time I went sky diving."

Remy gave Marie an odd look. "You went sky diving without a parachute?"

"Well, it's wasn't so much 'sky diving' as it was 'being blown out of a jet when the tail was hit by a missile'," Marie replied with a slight smile. "Good thing for me one of the other passengers was a teleporter."

"X-men thing hein?"

"Yeah, and that was _before_ I got my uniform."

Remy chuckled as he pulled out the harnesses for the jump.

"Well, kudos for giving sky diving a real try, then," he said with genuine admiration. "I'm sure that was quite a scare."

"Yeah," Marie replied and shrugged. "I like flying though. I got my pilot's licence after I graduated high school."

"Not bad," Remy said, moving into position to strap Marie into his harness. "I guess aerospace engineering was a good choice for you then."

"Yep."

When all parties were ready, the door was opened. Marie looked out at the sky before her, and the ground below her, dotted with trees and cars and buildings that looked so small from this height.

"Last chance to back out," Remy said into her ear.

"Let's do it," Marie replied.

Together they launched themselves through the doorway and into free fall. Marie's heart raced while air streamed past her.

The ground started growing bigger and bigger as they came closer to it. Then Remy pulled the parachute and Marie lost her breath as they were snapped back into the air as the parachute filled. Now upright, the rest of the trip down to earth didn't seem long enough, and they landed in a bundle on the ground.

"That was amazing!" Marie exclaimed as Remy freed them of both parachute and harness.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," Remy replied, smiling fondly at her.

"It was awesome," Marie said, and then flung herself at Remy, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you so much!"

Remy chuckled and kissed her head gently. "Again?"

"Sure!"

* * *

><p>They stopped for an early dinner on the way back to Remy's place, and Marie was surprised by an extra car in the driveway.<p>

"Whoops," Remy said, glancing at the time. "Later than I thought."

He drove into the garage, and Marie noted another man in the car in the drivers seat of the other car. Remy parked quickly and Marie followed Remy inside, where he opened the front door for the other man.

"Désolé, mon ami," Remy said. "Lost track of time."

"That's alright. I was late myself," the man replied, then his gaze fell on Marie. "Ahh, so this is the mistress you wanted me to paint?"

Marie blinked in surprise.

"Oui," Remy said. "This is Marie. Marie, this is Rene Bouvier. He's going to be taking some photos of you tonight, so he can have something to paint from."

"Oh," Marie said brightly, remembering Remy's promise to have a painting done of her. "Okay, cool. That explains the clothes then."

Remy chuckled.

The next handful of hours were spent taking photos. Rene wanted to work with different lightings and places as well as outfits. He was obviously dubious about Remy's "don't sexualise her" instruction, but didn't dispute it beyond asking Remy if he was feeling alright.

Marie had fun, but was more impressed with Remy's ability to keep his word, and being so prompt about it too. Another trait she hadn't expected from him at all.

Later, Marie fell asleep curled up into Remy in his bed. He stroked her hair gently. Today had been a good day. It wasn't until now that he realised that most of their dates had been much of the same thing, and he wondered how long he'd been stuck in that kind of rut with women in general. He'd gotten to see another side of Marie today too. He would definitely have to do some more of these adventurous dates with her. Remy wondered what else might be on her "Things To Do Before I Die" list.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Just like the year before, Remy took Marie and Jackie out to the day spa once their classes for the semester were over. Afterwards, Marie went back with Remy for dinner and to stay the night.

Jackie and Marie formally parted ways the next morning. Marie was picked up by her X-men friends, and Jackie returned home to Bella Donna's place.

As Jackie understood things, prior to the Guilds uniting, the Assassins Guild was based at the Boudreaux Mansion outside the city. It was there that they kept all their supplies (weapons, poisons, etc), provided training and pretty much everything else short of meeting with customers. The Thieves Guild, on the other hand, effectively owned the black market in New Orleans. They always had hot property on them, whether it was because they didn't have a pre-arranged buyer, or it wasn't safe to put it on the market yet. As a result, the Thieves were always on the move. Their stolen property scattered amongst homes, warehouses and hidden storerooms, some even in legitimate business. Training locations were always rotated. The only thing that wasn't were the Guild archives, which were kept in the LeBeau Mansion.

After her parents married, rather than be accused of favouring one Guild over the other, Remy and Bella Donna bought their own place. For a time, the general running of the Guilds remained the same, except that all council meetings were held at the LeBeau Mansion, although there was some crossover with most of the shared disciplines. As a result, for the first few years, Remy and Bella Donna ended up doing a great deal of travelling between their family homes, and the commute was such—especially when Jackie was born—that it wasn't uncommon for them to stay overnight at one place or the other.

Eventually, work was completed on a brand new Guild Hall, cleverly disguised as a sports and recreation centre. It was even open to the general public, who had no idea that the martial arts, rock climbing, gymnastics, and other such classes and facilities were aimed at training young thieves and future assassins. The more risky and specialised training continued according to the traditional methods. There were also offices in the Guild Hall: some were dedicated to actually running the centre, while the rest were for running the Guild. Council meetings were moved to the centre, and all Guild archives were moved to the Boudreaux Mansion, which was always populated by Assassins, and therefore the most secure location on the books. The LeBeau Mansion continued to be used as a safehouse and storehouse, and the family themselves were rather relieved that the amount of traffic was cut down.

Jackie sat down at the dinner table with Bella Donna. The downside to living with her mother rather than her father was that the meal quality had gone down. Not that Bella Donna was a bad cook or anything, more that Remy was an exceptional one. Jackie was wise enough not to say anything though.

"Smells good," Jackie said.

"Merci," Bella Donna replied. "Have you unpacked?"

"Oui."

There was further chatter about the end of school. Bella Donna inquired about Pierre and Damo, and Jackie asked about Trevor. That particular conversation quickly turned to sex, but in fairness, that was Jackie's only real interest in Pierre and Damo.

Conversation had turned to other topics when Jackie began to feel a pain in her temples. She forced herself to keep her face from reflecting the pain, and continued eating as normal, even though it spread quickly over her head, down her neck and spine and over her shoulders.

"May I be excused for a moment?" Jackie asked politely, it taking all her effort to remain composed.

"You may," Bella Donna replied.

"Merci."

Bella Donna watched without looking as her daughter walked as quickly as she could without being rude towards the bathroom. She had to give Jackie points: were it not for the fact that her clothes had began to glow, she wouldn't have known there was a problem. As Guild leader, Bella Donna was well pleased that Jackie had been able to hide her discomfort so well: Jackie would be the Guild leader herself one day, and Bella Donna had strong opinions about never showing weakness. As mother, Bella Donna was deeply concerned, more so when the magenta light started reflecting off the tiled floor of the bathroom and through the gap under the door. She considered going to her, to check if she was alright, but as Jackie wasn't making any noise in there, decided that she had things in hand.

After a few minutes, Jackie returned, calm and collected. The only hint of the ordeal that Bella Donna could see was a slightly damp, red flush to her face. Nevertheless, Bella Donna was well pleased that Jackie was able to sit back down at the table and carry on as if nothing had happened. Bella Donna considered leaving it alone, but her concerns as a mother overruled her.

"Still having headaches?" Bella Donna asked.

There was a slight pause before Jackie answered: "Oui. They're not as often as they used to be, but they're worse."

"I see," Bella Donna said, with a frown in her voice that didn't appear on her face. "Does your père know?"

"Oui. There's not a whole lot either of us can do but ride it out," Jackie said. "Papa said he was mid-twenties before they stopped."

"That's true, but I don't recall seeing him charge up his clothes when he had one."

"Perhaps he was just better at hiding it," Jackie replied. "Or maybe it's because of the experimentation. Or maybe it's because although our powers are similar, they're not identical."

"All valid ideas," Bella Donna said. "Does anyone at college know?"

"No," Jackie said firmly. "Every incident so far has been in private, except one, and I was able to escape without notice before it got that bad."

"And Marie?"

"She doesn't know."

"You're certain?"

"Absolument. Marie's an X-man, remember? I know her, Maman," Jackie replied firmly, "if she had seen anything, she would have asked me about it."

Bella Donna inclined her head. "Very well."

"I know you don't like her knowing so much," Jackie said when nothing was said for a time.

Bella Donna covered her hesitation by setting her now empty plate to the side.

"Your père isn't here, so I can say this," Bella Donna said. "Her interest in Remy aside, she seems like a nice enough girl, and I can see why you deux get along so well. My concern is that true, life long friendships are not very common, and I _am_ worried that you might be placed in a position where you have to kill her."

"Maman—"

"Jacqueline," Bella Donna said firmly, placing her hand over Jackie's. "You've never had to kill anyone you're emotionally attached to before. It's very easy to kill someone you don't know. It's a lot harder to kill someone you love. You have no idea how much I dread the idea of having to kill Julien: but he hates your père, enough to want to kill him, and if he ever did, I know as Guild leader, I would have to execute him."

"I know," Jackie replied.

"I love mon frère, Jackie," Bella Donna said. "I know he's not exactly your favourite person, or a favourite amongst any of the Thieves, but nevertheless, no matter all the fights we've had over the years, I love him, and I don't want to lose him. Now, I'm sure you by no means love Marie the way I love Julien, but the principle is still the same. Should the worst happen, you won't want to kill her. You may even be tempted to let her go, and that would be a mistake."

"Letting her go is a sign of weakness, hein?" Jackie asked dourly.

"It tells Marie that she has power over you, and it presents a double-standard to the Guild, should they learn of the incident," Bella Donna said. "They won't respect a leader who doesn't follow the same rules."

Jackie didn't reply as she cleaned off her plate, and Bella Donna didn't push it. She'd said what she needed to say.

"Well," Jackie said as she pushed her plate to the side. "Marie knows what the score is and she told me it didn't matter: she doesn't break the confidences of her friends."

"I hope that rings true, chère, I really do."

* * *

><p>Marie watched as Julian "Hellion" Keller tried to concentrate on moving objects smaller than a fridge in the danger room. Marie couldn't help but remember Jean's previous instruction to her on telekinesis all those years ago: Most telekinetics could move big things with no problems, it was the little things they struggled with. Right now there was sweat dripping down Hellion's forehead as he tried to focus on moving a chair.<p>

"It not working," Hellion complained, finally letting go of the chair, not having moved it at all. "I can't do it. My powers just don't work that way."

"Sugar, you're what? Sixteen?" Marie said. "Trust me, you're way too young to know what you're truly capable of."

"What would you know about it?" Hellion demanded, glaring fiercely at her. "You don't even have any powers. You don't even belong here."

"I told you to spend some time getting to know the chair," Marie replied, glaring back at him. "I said nothing about trying to move it."

"Get to know the chair? What am I? A dork?"

"How can you possibly expect to be able to make something move, if you don't know what you're moving?"

"I do it all the time!"

"No, what you're doing is trying to use your power as a sledge hammer," Marie said, her voice loud but firm. "You don't pick up a needle with a boxing glove."

"Oh right, like I haven't heard that one before," Hellion answered sarcastically. "Why don't you just go back to the plantation, _massa_?"

Hellion was actually quite shocked at how fast Marie's face went from merely "stern" to "boiling with rage". Faster than he could blink, Marie had grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed the back of her fist across his face.

"That's assault," he squeaked out.

"Oh, by the time I'm done with you, you're going to _wish_ it was assault, rude boy," Marie said darkly, pulling him to her eye level. "I don't give a rat's pretty pink ass how rich your parents are, there's no excuse for that kind of behaviour. You _will _apologise. You _won't_ make any more racial slurs. You _will_ get to know that chair even if you have to make love to it every single damn night for the rest of your life! Understand?"

"You can't tell me what to do!" Hellion shouted at her.

"I _am_ telling you," Marie shouted back at him. "And you are going to listen, even if it means we're in here for the rest of the night!"

She pushed Hellion roughly towards the chair, which he fell over in the process. Both Hellion and the chair hit the floor and Hellion rolled over the back of the chair so that the chair was between himself and Marie. Abruptly the chair glowed green, lifted into the air and flung itself right at Marie. Marie only just got her arms up in front of her face in time before the chair hit her. Hellion's anger gave way to surprise.

"It's about damn time!" Marie said, glaring at him as she pulled her arms down again. "And don't you ever, _ever_ throw furniture at me again."

* * *

><p>Later, Storm approached Marie while Hellion was having his new black eye looked at in the med lab.<p>

"Was it really necessary to hit him?" Storm asked.

"Yes," Marie replied, completely unashamed of her loss of temper in the danger room. "I don't abide by slavery or human trafficking in any form, and I will not stand by and be insulted in that matter. End of discussion."

"Nevertheless, Rogue," Storm said firmly, "there are better ways of disciplining students. Detention, making him clean the Blackbird, extra chore duties—"

"But not nearly as satisfying," Marie said. "If you want me to apologise, Storm, you're wasting your time. I will not be lumped in with people who abuse, exploit, mutilate, torture, starve and otherwise reduce other people to the level of animals—_below_ the level of animals—completely stripping them of all their human rights, for sex and profit. If hitting Hellion means that you don't want me working with any more of the students on their powers, I will understand, but I'm _not_ changing my mind."

* * *

><p>Jackie sat on a chair to the side in the council room, trying not to look as bored as she felt. The council room was a windowless room with soundproof walls and modern decor. The average person looking in would just think it was an ordinary conference room.<p>

Remy and Bella Donna sat at the head of the long table, deep in discussion with all the other heads of the United Guilds. It was interesting at first, but then everyone seemed to go over the same points over and over again, just with different words. It was a pity she couldn't even hope to escape such bureaucracy in the FBI.

After what seemed like forever, the meeting finally came to a close. As the councillors packed up and departed, Remy pulled out a deck of playing cards and began shuffling them. Bella Donna frowned when she saw him. He'd been doing the exact same thing after meetings for almost a month now.

"Whatever are you doing, Remy?" Bella Donna asked imperiously.

Jackie froze slightly, hoping this wasn't going to turn into one of their fights. They were both quite capable of being professional during meetings, but the meeting was over now...

"Shuffling cards," Remy replied. "What does it look like?"

"Shouldn't you be outside already?" she asked, knowing full well how quick Remy was to bolt from the council room. "And puffing on one of those cancer sticks of yours like you _always_ do after _every_ meeting for the past twenty-two years?"

Jackie looked curiously at her father. Remy didn't respond straight away, seeming more intent on his cards. Finally he shrugged.

"I decided to quit," he said.

Both women stared at him like he'd gone mad.

"Quit?" Bella Donna repeated, all other words failing her.

After all these years, Bella Donna had been certain that if there was only one reason why Remy continued smoking, it was to get on her nerves.

"Oui, quit," Remy replied tersely, his eyes focused on his cards. "And if you don't mind, I'm trying to go cold turkey here, so I'd really appreciate it if you didn't remind me of all the fun I had smoking."

Now that he mentioned it, Jackie couldn't remember the last time Remy had gone off for a cigarette. Of course, she knew her father had a preference for not smoking around her anyway, but that didn't mean she didn't notice when he when he had one. And come to think of it, he had been more irritable lately.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" Bella Donna said harshly. "Can't have you mooning over all the fond memories you have of blackening your lungs and yearning to suck on one again. Oh no, there are more important things for you to deal with!"

Remy finally lifted his head to look at Bella Donna.

"I'm glad you agree," he said evenly.

Bella Donna turned on her heel and stormed out of the conference room, stopping just shot of slamming the door shut behind her. Jackie frowned. That was weird. Her mother hated displays of temper or anything else that might expose vulnerability. And why would she be so angry about Remy quitting? Bella Donna had been trying to get him to quit for years.

* * *

><p>Marie sighed as she got into Bobby's car.<p>

"So, how it go?" Bobby asked as waited for her to settle in.

"Remind me to kill Storm," Marie replied irritably.

"Is that something you should be discussing with your therapist?" Bobby asked mischievously.

"Don't make me kick your ass, Bobby," Marie said.

"I don't know, Marie," Bobby said, grinning broadly as he drove back onto the street. "Isn't this violent streak of yours the reason _why_ Storm has you doing an anger management course in the first place?"

"No," Marie replied tersely. "Storm has me doing this stupid course to appease Hellion's parents, even though he was the one making offensive, racist remarks."

"But he's just a kid," Bobby said with false innocence. "He couldn't possibly—"

"Don't push it."

"Still so angry? Maybe I should take you back there for an extra session."

Marie was silent for so long that Bobby glanced over at her. She had her eyes shut, and Bobby figured she was attempting to restrain whatever angry comment was on her lips to say.

"Oh look," he said, unable to help himself. "Therapy must be working."

"I swear, Bobby," Marie said, "I will kiss you in front of Opal if you don't knock it off."

"You wouldn't dare."

"It'll be a big, smoochy kiss with lots of tongue."

"She won't fall for it," Bobby insisted. "She'll see me trying to get away and know what going on and she'll beat you up instead."

"Bobby? What's wrong?" Marie asked innocently, playing the role she had in mind if she did kiss him in front of Opal. "Why aren't you... Oh what's _she_ doing here? I thought you two broke up."

"You're a cruel, cruel woman, Rogue," Bobby said grumpily. "Spoil all my fun."

"But spoiling your fun is fun for me," Marie replied, smiling.

Bobby muttered something under his breath and Marie chuckled.

"By the way," Bobby said in his normal tone of voice as they drove back to Xaviers, "don't repeat this to Storm but...I'm kind of glad you hit him."

"Oh yeah?" Marie asked, looking at Bobby curiously.

"Yeah. You may have noticed Hellion's a bit of a...well, a hellion, really."

Marie chuckled. "Yeah, the thought did cross my mind."

"Well, he's actually been a lot better to deal with since you hit him," Bobby said seriously. "Okay, he's still an ass-clown—that's not going to change overnight—but he's been just that little bit better to deal with. And I know he's made a lot more progress with his powers since he's been having lessons with you. I guess having experience with telekinesis helps."

"Yeah, probably."

"I mean, Storm worked with him a lot," Bobby went on. "She worked with Jean a lot and had a lot of second hand advice to give him, but you actually have _first_ hand experience. I guess that's why Storm talked his parents into keeping him here for summer school."

"Yeah."

"I know why you wanted to get the Cure," Bobby went on, "but I think it's kind of a shame it hasn't worn off. Being able to have first hand experience with all the powers could really help you with all the students."

"Well, I hate not being able to touch people," Marie retorted hotly. "And I don't want a bunch of hormonal teenagers running around in my head either, thank you very much."

"Sorry," Bobby said. "I was just saying."

* * *

><p>It was a bright sunny day, and Remy was lagging behind a modest group of people at the cemetery. He felt a little awkward being at the funeral, having known very few of her friends and family, but it wasn't something he felt right about missing.<p>

Remy couldn't really hear anything the priest was saying; he was too far back and the priest's words were lost in the wind. Still, he stood there and tried to listen all the same, then watched while the crowd laid flowers on the coffin.

Eventually the crowd dispersed, and it was only then that Remy approached the coffin. The funeral director gave him the slightest nod, but otherwise no one acknowledged him. Remy took one of the available flowers and laid it gently on the coffin.

"Rest in peace, Silvia," he said softly.

He stood there in silence for a time. It was still hard to comprehend. Sure, they'd been broken up for months, but he'd never expected for the next time he heard of her that she would have died from an overdose of her prescription medicine. The police were undecided whether it was an accident or suicide.

At last he turned from the coffin and shoved his hands into his pockets. He tried to focus on Silvia and not on the fact that he could really do with a cigarette right now.

* * *

><p>Marie looked up at the Sentinel with an unimpressed look on her face.<p>

"Haven't you guys gotten bored with this program yet?" she asked her team mates.

They were standing on a 'roof top', overlooking a suburban neighbourhood...with a giant mutant hunting robot standing in the middle of it. There were two other Sentinels, one mid-flight and the other off in the distance. There were people in the streets, playing in the neighbourhood park, in shops and houses. There were also a number of people who had seen the Sentinels and had started to run. Everyone was frozen.

"What?" Jubilee asked with mischief. "You don't think that beating up on giant robots is fun?"

"I feel like I'm in a bad comic book movie."

Jubilee giggled.

_"Alright, X-men," _said Logan's voice over the speakers. _"Your mission: Protect the civilians and get the mutants to safety. Some of the civilians will register as mutants to the Sentinels. It will not always be obvious. Some of the civilians are real: they're being played by students. Some of the programmed characters look like students or other known mutants, but not all of them will register as mutants to the Sentinels. The Sentinels are programmed to kill, so if you get hit, you're out. If a civilian gets hit, they're out. You have one hour to complete your mission."_

"Oh goody," Bobby said dryly. "Student civilians. Woohoo."

_"Time starts now."_

"Great, so we have to get the mutants to safety, but we don't know who they are," said Kitty.

"Sounds real to me, sugar," said Rogue.

"No time for chat, ladies," Bobby said. "Warren? If you can give me a hand with the runners. We'll meet the rest of you on the ground."

While Bobby swooped off on his ice slide and Warren flew; Marie, Kitty, Jubilee and Piotr headed down via the stairs. When they got down to street level, Marie spotted some runners that Bobby and Warren had missed, so they went afer them and got them out of harm's way. Just in time too, for the second Sentinel landed.

"Halt mutant," said the Sentinel.

The Sentinel held out its hand, palm up and arm straight, and Jubilee dodged just in time to avoid the shot. Kitty phased into the leg of the Sentinel, climbed inside and started phasing through key systems. Bobby froze over the legs of the first Sentinel. It didn't hold, but it did restrain the Sentinel long enough to distract it and get more civilians out of the way. The third Sentinel landed just when Kitty finally shorted out the second one.

"I don't think I can do that again," Kitty told her team. "It kept rerouting. I got lucky this time, but you know how these things learn."

"Tell me about it," Bobby muttered.

The X-men fell into a rhythm, switching between distracting the Sentinels and getting civilians out of the way. The only time they were able to identify other mutants was when a Sentinel tried to shoot one, or at least chased after one. The task of getting the mutants to the pre-designated safety-zone fell to Bobby and Warren, as they had the greater ability to travel and take passengers with them.

One of the Sentinels got to the park, and it was chaos trying to keep everyone safe. To make matters worse, it appeared that there was some sort of mutant play group in progress, for there were a number of obviously mutant children around. The open space made trying to get even the human civilians to safety difficult, and somehow, in the confusion, Marie ended up the only one near the other Sentinel.

"Halt mutant."

Marie dodged hard to the side, just missing the blast. She ducked behind a corner and glanced out at the Sentinel.

"Destroy," said the Sentinel, its hand outstretched.

Marie was about to run again, when she realised that the Sentinel's palm was not pointed at her, but at a blonde, teenage girl, only a few metres away. Marie leapt towards her, pushed her to the ground and they both went rolling across the road just as the shot blew up the road. Marie grabbed the girl's hand and they dashed behind a dumpster.

"You okay, sugar?" Marie asked, her eyes on the Sentinel.

"Not a scratch. I'm invulnerable," the girl replied smugly.

"Must be nice," Marie said, glancing back at her and recognising the girl as one of the students, Carol.

"It has its perks," Carol said, watching as Marie looked around for escape avenues. "Aren't you supposed to be getting me to the safety zone right about now? I'm bored."

"I'm working on it," Marie said, then saw the Sentinel start to move its head in their direction, grabbed Carol and hauled her down the alley, only to hit a fence.

"How are you at climbing?" Marie asked.

She had a vague recollection that Carol had a couple of powers, but couldn't think of them off the top of her head. Carol sighed, then picked Marie up and started flying them above the buildings and towards the safety zone.

"Oh right, you can fly," Marie said.

"Yup, and super-strength," Carol replied.

_"Danvers! You weren't invited into this exercise so you could show off," _Logan bellowed over the speakers. _"Rogue's supposed to be rescuing you."_

"But she was taking forever!" Carol complained.

_"Put Rogue down now, right back where you were."_

"But there's a Sentinel there—"

_"That's the point!"_

"You'd better listen to him, sugar," Marie said, grinning up at Carol. "Or he's likely to try and find out exactly how invulnerable you really are."

"Meh, fine," Carol grumbled.

Carol flew them back down again, but landed on the other side of the wall. One good thing about the size of the Sentinels was that they were hard to miss; Marie knew exactly where their stalker was. Their trip in the air had given Marie a good idea of her location too; they were closer to the park than they were the safety zone. Marie figured heading for the park would be her best chance of getting Carol to safety, and it would probably be easier to have both Sentinels where they could keep an eye on them.

"This way," Marie said, taking Carol's hand once more.

Much to Marie's annoyance, she could feel Carol deliberately lagging behind her. Marie bit down on the urge to snap at her. Almost inevitably, the Sentinel found them again and shot at them relentlessly. They ducked into an alcove and Carol became quite conscious of just how much skin contact there was between them as they huddled out of sight near a fire escape.

"I bet I could smash that Sentinel into smithereens," Carol said.

"Logan said not to show off, sugar," Marie replied, her eyes falling on a nearby hardware store.

"If you actually still had your powers, then you could borrow mine and then it wouldn't be me showing off," said Carol snidely.

Marie glanced back at the Sentinel. "This way."

Carol grunted as Marie hauled her towards the hardware store. They scampered in through the front door just before the Sentinel turned in their direction.

"He's going to find us," said Carol. "And we're going the wrong way, anyway."

"Away from the windows, please," Marie said, pulling Carol with her into the aisles. "The Sentinels can't scan inside at ground level so easily, but it's not impossible."

"What do you think you're going to do?" Carol demanded.

Marie didn't reply. Instead she scanned the shelves, almost running through the store in her hurry to pick up the things she needed for her half-formed plan. She ignored Carol's protests as she grabbed what she thought she'd need, and then headed—carefully—to the front counter to pay for everything.

"It's a simulation!" Carol said. "Who cares if you pay for it?"

"It's the principle of the thing," Marie replied.

"There is a Sentinel outside, hunting us," said Carol. "Settle the bill later!"

"You stay here, away from windows," Marie said, ignoring her comment. "I'll come back for you."

"Wait, where are you—"

But Marie was already back out on the street, taking her supplies with her.

"Hey, jerkface!" she yelled to the Sentinel, who hadn't wandered too far. "Over here!"

Marie waited until the Sentinel had seen her, then bolted for the fire escape that she and Carol had hidden near earlier. Still yelling nonsense insults at the Sentinel, she climbed up the fire escape.

"Halt mutant," it said as Marie reached the top.

"Not likely."

Marie jumped, not only missing the blast, but also jumping onto the Sentinel itself, ramming a couple of plungers from the hardware store onto its body. There was enough suction and the plungers stayed, giving Marie just the leverage she needed to climb up onto its shoulder.

The Sentinel turned its head to look at her and lifted one hand to grab her. Marie sprayed black paint in its eyes. She dodged its hands, made a quick evaluation of her position, then jumped down via the half-blown apart fire escape.

"Hey, I'm over here," she yelled at him. "This way, you tin-plated bastard."

As she hoped, the Sentinel strode after her. It made the occasional attempt to shoot at her, but now that it was relying on purely sound, it was less accurate. Marie yelled at it some more and ran towards the park and the second Sentinel.

"Rogue!" Warren exclaimed.

The park was in a shambles. Most of the civilians had been evacuated, but there were a few little kids who decided (or who had been programmed to decide) that hiding under park benches and other such places was much safer than going with the X-men.

"Hey ugly!" Marie yelled at the second Sentinel.

Distracted from being distracted by Jubilee, the Sentinel started to turn. Marie ran right between its legs, yelling again for good measure. Before the second Sentinel could so much as "halt mutant", the Sentinel that had been chasing Marie lifted his arm towards its partner.

"Destroy."

Bobby whooshed by, grabbed Marie and put up an ice wall as a shield from the blast that followed. The blinded Sentinel not only took out its partner, but the resulting ricochet took out it as well. Warren landed as the explosion settled down, and the X-men all stared at the mess that remained.

"Did you just take out two Sentinels at once?" Kitty asked.

"Looks like it, huh?" Marie said, panting hard.

"Cool," said Carol, and Marie was not at all surprised to find that the younger girl had disobeyed her instruction to stay in the hardware store.

"See?" Marie said with a slight grin. "I don't need your powers to kick butt."

"You sure showed me," Carol replied.

_"Alright kids, you had an hour, and it's only been forty-six minutes," _said Logan. _"I guess you can have an early mark."_

"Woohoo, go Rogue!" Bobby cheered.

_"Hit the showers."_

The simulation dissolved and all the real people, X-man and student, headed for the main doors. Logan was already at the doors by the time Marie passed.

"Nice work, Stripes," he said. "You realise that probably won't work as well a second time."

"Hey, you win some, you lose some," Marie replied with a shrug as she passed.

The last one out the door was Carol, and she stopped as the danger room doors closed behind her. She looked up at Logan, who watched the last of the X-men and students go down the hall and enter the change rooms.

"I tried," she said.

"You did good, kid," Logan replied, turning his head to give her a nod as he pulled out one of his cigars. "Rogue's just better."

Carol gave Logan a sly smile. "Just like you taught her?"

Logan lit his cigar.

"And don't you forget it," he said.

* * *

><p>Remy was sitting comfortably in the hot tub in one of the "play rooms" of the House of the Rising Sun with two topless women, one on each side. They were being most obliging and finding all sorts of fun things for his fingers and lips to do so they were too busy to itch for cigarettes.<p>

"Remy?"

Remy looked up to see a mostly naked Emil entering the play room, with a couple of women of his own by his sides.

"Hey, welcome to the party," Remy said.

"You haven't been here all day, have you?" Emil asked as he stepped into the hot tub.

"It's a distinct possibility," Remy replied with a smirk.

Emil shook his head.

"You are going to have one hell of a bill by the end of it," Emil said.

"That's okay," Remy said. "We don't mind, do we ladies?"

"Nope, not at all," the one on his right, Mindy, replied.

"He promises to do me next," said the one on his left, Jessica.

Emil snickered and Remy gave Jessica a kiss.

"Absolument," Remy assured Jessica. "We'll move this upstairs shortly."

"Aww," Mindy said with a pout.

"You had your turn," Jessica said.

"Yeah," Mindy said with a slight grin. "Me and everyone else."

"Everyone else?" Emil asked, then glanced at his two women, Rachel and Yvonne. "You deux as well?"

"Yep," Rachel said the same time Yvonne replied "Oui."

"Why do I always get your seconds?" Emil asked.

"Hey," Remy said. "Don't insult the femmes like that. 'Sides, you were patronising the Rising Sun first."

"Stop injecting facts into it," Emil said, but he was grinning.

"I was feeling restless," Remy said. "And horny."

"Evidentially," Emil replied dryly.

"Besides, I made another sale yesterday, so I've cash to burn."

"Another sale?" Emil asked, and then realised Remy meant the Cure. "You still flogging that stuff?"

"Oui," Remy said smugly.

"Just how much of that stuff did you acquire? Seriously?" Emil asked, his hands occupied with Rachel and Yvonne.

"I acquired a monopoly," Remy replied firmly, remembering all the trouble he'd gone to to track down every single person who had stolen even one dose of the Cure. "So, all of it, really."

"Still, after all this time, you'd think you've be running out."

Remy shrugged. "It all adds up. Plus, scarcity adds to the price."

"And you're not even selling it to the highest bidder."

"The highest bidder can go to hell."

"Shall I repeat that to the accountant?"

"Absolument not."

Emil laughed. "I had a feeling you'd say that."

Remy grinned wickedly at him.

"Oh hey," Emil said. "Did Jackie tell you about the deal she made with Sy?"

"No, I don't think so," Remy replied. "What deal?"

"Well, they've both decided that threesomes are in," Emil began.

"Ahh," Remy said with a nod. "Yeah, Jackie mentioned she'd been experimenting in that direction. Sy's into that too, hein?"

"Oui," Emil said, grinning. "Sy agreed to do deux-hommes threesomes with Jackie if she supplied the other homme, and Jackie agreed to do deux-femmes threesomes with Sy if he supplied the other femme."

"There's a punchline coming," Remy said, gleefully. "I can tell."

Emil chuckled wickedly. "Jackie brought in Varian."

Remy burst out laughing at the idea of the Thief, Sy, having a threesome with the Assassin, Varian. Choice of profession aside, the two were not exactly known for their ability to get along.

"Well," Remy said, once he was done wiping away tears from laughing so hard. "It's nice to know Jackie's finding new and creative ways to keep the Guilds together."

"Ouias," said Emil. "I never thought I'd hear myself say this, but I almost wish I'd been a fly on the wall.:'

"Almost?"

"I don't really want to see my son do the nasty, even if I would like to see how Jackie talked them both into it."

"Feminine wiles," Remy said with a nod.

"Must be," Emil replied, then went on with a sly grin: "Not sure I want to watch Jackie do the nasty either, although she is pretty hot."

"Oh really?" Remy asked dangerously.

"Surely you've noticed?" Emil asked innocently. "She's grown up into a _very_ attractive young woman. I'd do her in a heartbeat."

Remy glared at him, but before he could say anything, Emil continued:

"If I hadn't known her since she was born."

"You are walking on very thin ice there, mon ami," Remy said.

"Thin ice?" Emil repeated ingeniously. "But this is a hot tub!"

Remy snickered despite himself and Emil grinned at him.

"Now, that friend of hers, Marie, on the other hand," Emil said slyly. "I'd definitely do her."

"Weren't you just complaining you didn't like getting my seconds?" Remy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cute ass. Great rack," Emil said as if Remy hadn't said anything. "What's she like in the sack?"

Remy didn't reply immediately. He never told Emil it was all just a set up, and he wasn't feeling at all inclined to admit he wasn't actually sleeping with Marie.

"Yoohoo Remy," Emil said, waving his hand in front of his friend's face when he didn't reply. "She that good you've gone off to visit her in your head?"

Remy smiled at that and shrugged.

"She's inexperienced but she's also a lot of fun," he said finally, then added after a moment's pause: "And she likes to experiment and try new things, so all's good."

"Damn, now I really want to—"

"She's also very discerning about who she sleeps with, Emil," Remy said firmly, trying not to glare at him for having the audacity to fantasise about 'his' Marie.

"Then why's she sleeping with you?" Emil asked, only half joking.

Remy gave a weak little laugh, then turned to Mindy and kissed her gently.

"Merci for all the fun today, chère," he said, looking into her eyes.

Mindy kissed his nose.

"You're welcome, Remy," she replied. "Any time."

Remy grinned back at her, then turned to face Jessica.

"So chère," he said. "How about you and I find somewhere a little more private and dry each other off?"

"Why?" Jessica asked coyly, standing up with Remy and stepping out of the hot tub. "We're only going to get _wet_ again."

Remy chuckled and Emil snickered as they walked off.

* * *

><p>Kitty sat on a chair in Marie's room at Xavier while she watched Marie pack her bags.<p>

"The summer went way too quickly," Kitty said.

"Yeah," Marie agreed while stuff another bundle of clothing into her suitcase.

"I can't believe this is our last year. Time sure flies, huh?"

"Yeah," Marie said. "It sure does."


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

Marie stepped out of the taxi outside of the dormitory block, pulling her bags with her. The driver took off as soon as the door was closed and Marie made her way inside.

"Hey Marie," Toby greeted, spotting her in the foyer. "How was your summer?"

"Good, thanks," Marie replied. "Yours?"

"Yeah pretty good."

"Is Jackie here yet, do you know?"

"No idea."

"Okay thanks anyway."

Marie headed upstairs to her dorm. She pulled out the key she'd gotten earlier and unlocked the door. It felt so weird to think this would be the last year she'd be living here. She pushed the door open and headed inside. From the looks of things, Jackie hadn't arrived yet. In any case, Marie shut the door behind her and began the unpacking of her luggage.

About an hour later, Marie was startled by the door opening. A suitcase was pushed through the gap in the door, which opened wider as a result and Marie grinned as she saw Jackie backing in with a couple of other bags and a large square present about two or so inches thick.

"Hey," Marie greeted, standing up. "Need a hand?"

"Oh hey Marie," Jackie replied. "Nah, I'm right. Oh wait, here, take this, it's for you anyway."

Marie raised her eyebrows as Jackie gestured to the present with her head.

"Thanks," she said, taking the present off Jackie with both hands. "Weighty, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Jackie said, shuffling the rest of the way into the dorm and dumping her things onto the floor. "And it's not from me. It's from Papa."

Marie blinked in surprise. She wouldn't have expected Remy to ask Jackie to play messenger for him, Nevertheless, Marie put the present on her recently made bed and started undoing it.

"Well, it's very nice of him, I'm sure," Marie said.

Jackie didn't reply, only stretched her arms and peered over Marie's shoulder while she opened it up. A smile appeared on Marie's face when the paper fell away to reveal a framed painting of herself. She was sitting sideways on the lounge chair from Remy's lounge room, with her back against one arm and her legs hanging over the other. A book was propped up between her knees. The initials "RB" were scrawled in the corner.

"Rene does good work, hein?" Jackie said.

"Yeah, wow," Marie said, nodding. "This is amazing. I'd completely forgotten about Remy getting a painting done for me too."

"So, we hanging it up?" Jackie asked cheekily.

"What? In here?" Marie said, turning her head to catch Jackie's eyes, which were sparkling with mischief. "I really don't think so."

"Aww, why not?"

"Well, for one thing," Marie said as she lifted the painting, "I'm not nearly narcissistic nor egocentric enough to want to live in a room with a big painting of me in it."

Jackie laughed as Marie set the painting against the wall.

"Hey, what's this?" Marie asked, turning to find an envelope sitting on the wrapping paper still on the bed.

"Ugh," Jackie said, returning to her bags. "If that turns out to be some sappy love letter, I don't want to know about it."

Marie laughed softly, opened the envelope and pulled out a letter. It started off talking about the painting he'd promised and how he hoped she liked it and it helped, and then switched to a more romantic vein. She read it twice with a silly smile on her face and finally put the letter down on her desk.

"I have to say, Jackie," Marie said as she scrunched up the wrapping paper and put it into the garbage, "there are times when I honestly regret your dad is married, and well, your dad."

Jackie gave her friend a long, appraising look.

"I don't believe you," Jackie said.

"Umm, okay?"

"I don't believe for one minute you _had_ to tell me that."

Marie laughed.

* * *

><p>Remy picked Marie up on a Saturday a couple of weeks later. He grinned with delight when Marie decided to climb over the door to get into his convertible.<p>

"That's right chère," he said, "doors are for the weak."

"Oh really?" Marie asked. "What about doors leading into buildings?"

"Windows are better."

Marie opened her mouth to retort, but Remy took her face in his hands and kissed her hungrily instead. He had missed her.

"So," he asked as he finally pulled away and drove off, "how was your summer?"

"Pretty good," she replied. "Well, for the most part."

"Oh?"

Marie hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "I hit one of the students after he implied I had black slaves. Storm made me do an anger management course."

"I would have done more than just hit him," Remy said.

"Finally!" Marie said, throwing her arms up in the air. "At last a sympathiser!"

Remy laughed.

"All I got was 'you shouldn't hit the students regardless of motivation'. Screw that. If he's going to be rude and offensive, he needs to be smacked. He's lucky I didn't take him over my knee," Marie went on vehemently.

"Or maybe he's _un_lucky..." Remy said mischievously.

"You and your dirty mind," Marie retorted disgustedly, shaking her head.

Remy chuckled. "So if I were to accuse you of the same, would you—"

"Destroy any chance of you being able to have childr- have _sex_ in the future?" Marie interrupted angrily. "Yes. This is not a joking matter."

"Désolé, ma chère," Remy replied sincerely. "You know I can't resist the idea of your hands on me. Mais, you're right: Slavery isn't a joking matter."

"Thank you!"

Remy took one hand off the wheel to hold Marie's closest hand.

"The worst of it is that it still happens even today," Remy said seriously. "Even in countries that have made it illegal, there are always some who continue the practice in secret. You think you're safe, but you just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and next thing you know, you're running for your life over a fortress wall, gambling that you won't hit the rocks on the jump down into the sea."

Marie frowned at the bitter edge to his voice and the rather specific scenario.

"Anyway," Remy went on before Marie could say anything, "this conversation is far too heavy for what's supposed to be a fun date. Tell me about something good that happened to you over the summer."

Marie thought for a moment, then picked a story that wasn't particularly revealing about the goings on of the X-men. They chatted about trivial things all the way to Lake Pontchartrain, where they rented a couple of jet skis, and a wetsuit for Marie.

"Hmm," Remy said, eyeing Marie when she came out of the change room in her wetsuit. "I don't think we got one that's tight enough."

"Really?" Marie replied, looking Remy over in his personally owned wetsuit without batting an eye. "Because from over here, it looks like your circulation is being cut off."

Remy laughed and kissed her fondly. They went jet skiing for about an hour, took a break and then exchanged their jet skis for water skis. Marie hadn't done either before, and Remy rather enjoyed watching her try both for the first time.

Finally they changed clothes and returned their rented equipment. After a short walk, they had stopped for dinner at one of the local restaurants. After pursuing the menu (and Marie getting Remy's wine recommendation), they ordered and as the waiter walked off, Remy pulled out a deck of playing cards and started springing them from one hand to another. Marie had seen this mannerism of his before, usually when they were waiting for something, but this was the first time he'd started fiddling at the dinner table.

"Feeling restless?" she asked.

Remy shrugged slightly. "A little." There was a moment's pause and then: "I decided to quit smoking, so I'm a little fidgety."

Marie's face lit up. "You did? Really?"

"Oui," Remy replied, feeling rather pleased at the obvious approval in her voice.

"Well, congratulations," Marie said, smiling at him. "Any particular reason?"

"I've thought about it from time to time," he said with another shrug. "I even tried quitting around when Jackie was born, for her sake, but I wasn't having a whole lot of success and then there was all the stress from dealing with my problems with Bella Donna... It was just easier to keep the habit going."

Marie nodded thoughtfully.

"Never did like smoking around Jackie," Remy went on, his eyes now on his cards rather than Marie. "Although it was always fun smoking around Belle. She hates it like the plague."

Marie laughed.

"Well, I think it's awesome that you're giving it up," Marie said firmly. "And if you're ever having a craving and need someone to talk you out of it, call me."

"Unless you're in class, right?" Remy asked with a grin.

"Yeah, it might be a little difficult to get me when my phone's off," Marie said thoughtfully. "Maybe I'll change my voicemail and say something like 'if this is Remy, don't do it!'"

Remy laughed and Marie grinned at him.

"Are you on patches or something?" she asked.

"Non, I decided to go cold turkey," Remy replied casually. "Why beat around the bush, you know?"

"Fair enough. So, how long as it been since your last cigarette?"

Remy beamed proudly, catching her eyes. "June."

"June?" Marie repeated. "Before or after I left?"

"After. I didn't want to make a big deal about it in case I couldn't stick with it," Remy replied, continuing to spring the cards from hand to hand.

"Well, congratulations," Marie said with a nod. "Just how long have you been a smoker for anyway, if you don't mind my asking?"

"I think I had my first one when I was twelve or something," Remy replied thoughtfully. "You know, just to try it out, see what the fuss was, all that jazz. I didn't really become a smoker until I was fifteen though."

"Wow, so that's..." Marie frowned thoughtfully as she calculated. "Twenty-six years?"

"Oui."

"That's sure one hell of a habit to break," she said seriously. "But I'm sure you can do it."

Remy stopped springing the cards, reached over and took Marie's hand. "Merci for your vote of confidence."

"You're quite welcome," Marie replied as Remy kissed the back of her hand.

* * *

><p>The following Monday, while Marie was busy in her morning class, Jackie arrived at the club room, with Marie's painting wrapped up in a spare sheet to protect it.<p>

"Hey Jackie," Sandra greeted as she walked through the door. "What's that you've got there?"

Jackie grinned at Sandra. "A miracle has happened."

"Oh?"

"Papa, as usual, has decided that his latest painting of Marie completely sucks," Jackie replied, propping the painting up on a nearby chair. "Fortunately, I was able to salvage the painting before he could throw it away. Voila!"

Jackie pulled the sheet away, revealing the painting. She then turned the painting the right way up.

"Huh," said Toby, looking the painting over while Sandra got up to make a closer inspection. "There really is a painting."

"Don't sound so surprised," Jackie said, smirking at Toby. "What did you think they were doing? Having a sordid love affair?"

"The thought had occurred to me."

"That's because you're a pervert."

"This is actually really good," Sandra said. "I can't believe your papa was going to throw it away."

"Yeah, he's always doing that," Jackie replied with a wave of her hand.

"RB," Sandra said, glancing at the signature in the corner. "What does the R stand for?"

"Remy," Jackie said, smirking to herself with the knowledge that everyone would figure his last name was "Boudreaux". It had been rather sneaky of Remy to pick the one artist they knew with appropriate initials, but then she never expected anything less from him.

When Marie showed up from her class, she gave a dramatic, pre-planned groan at the sight of the painting, now proudly on display on a table top, leaning against the wall.

"Jackie! I can't believe you brought that thing here," she said, pulling a face at her.

"Heh, you're just embarrassed I managed to salvage it at all," Jackie replied, grinning. "And it was a good thing too. Toby over here wasn't entirely convinced you weren't having an affair with mon père."

"Okay, Toby, one word: Eww," Marie replied.

Toby shrugged. "You can't blame me. I have seen the guy pick you up, bring you flowers and drive you away in his red convertible."

"It's all part of his plot to trick the canvas," Jackie said, and then gestured to the painting. "Although to hear him talk his plot had failed miserably lately, as he considered this to be a disaster."

"Yeah, he wants to do occasional day time sessions now too," said Marie. "He figures the canvas has cottoned onto his night painting scheme."

"One of these days we're going to have to meet him," said Sandra with a nod. "I bet he's a hoot to talk to."

Marie chuckled. Conversation dwindled down not after that and Marie plugged in her laptop and turned it on. The painting seemed like a great idea when Remy thought of it, but now she was just feeling guilty about going out of her way to deceive her friends. And she was also feeling a little bad about referring to Remy as "eww".

At least there was an end in sight: She'd have to come to some sort of alternate arrangement for her next dose, but after that she could just save up and pay Remy for any more after that. She should probably try pushing it too, and see how long she could go without her powers coming back. After all, the more doses, the more expensive it got, and there was no telling how much Remy had left. The longer she could put off her powers coming back full time, the better. She pushed away all thoughts of 'shelf-life' and 'building up immunity'.

Marie sighed as her computer finally finished starting up and she opened up her word processor. Her college career wasn't going quite the way she expected. She had been really looking forward to spending some time to get to know herself again, and felt that the joy of learning all these little things about herself had been dampened down by the burden of the measures she took to prevent her powers from coming back. Things like discovering she liked beer because _she_ liked beer, and not because Logan did; realising that she'd rather have a good brawl than a competition fight any day of the week; finding out that she did her best work under pressure; and coming to the conclusion that she made impulsive decisions unless she was in denial about something—like getting her powers back—at which point she tended to procrastinate.

She hated this 'open relationship' stuff too. For a moment, Marie seriously considered just giving in and embracing being Remy's mistress. After all, it was something she'd never do again, so she may as well enjoy it. But the idea was immediately rejected by her conscience: it was wrong, and she'd never be able to convince herself otherwise.

* * *

><p>Marie glanced at the young man in Ryan's dorm room, presumably his room mate, as she walked in with Ryan. The young man glanced up from where he was sitting on his bed to look at her.<p>

"So, umm, Luke, this is Marie," Ryan said. "Marie, this is Luke."

"Hey nice to meet you," said Luke, standing up and walking over to her. "I was beginning to think you didn't exist."

Marie laughed. "Nice to meet you too."

"So, Ryan tells me this is an open relationship?" Luke asked, a hint of mischief in his eyes.

"Hey!" Ryan objected.

"I'm not looking to date anyone else at the moment, sugar," Marie replied in amusement.

He gave a shrug. "Doesn't hurt to ask. Catchas later."

Luke gave a wave, grabbed his wallet and departed. Marie snickered and sat down next to Ryan on his bed. There was quiet for a moment while they looked at each other.

"Hey, I was wondering," Ryan said cautiously. "What do you think about, umm, making this a closed relationship?"

Marie grinned, all the while hiding how much she dearly would have loved to do that.

"I'm sorry, sugar," she said, taking his hand. "I really think this is better for now, okay?"

"But neither of us are seeing anyone else," Ryan pointed out.

Marie ignored the twang of guilt at Ryan's misinformation. "Well, yeah, that's 'cause we're juggling school and work. Don't need to juggle relationships as well."

"Well, what about after college?" Ryan asked. "Are you going to use being too busy at work to as an excuse to keep casual dating then too?"

"Work's different," Marie insisted.

"How is it different?" Ryan said seriously. "There's always going to be some project, or something you have to work overtime for, or some promotion you just want to get before you settle down."

"It's different because college is giving you all the technical information you need to get started," Marie replied. "Or at least all the theory before you learn that it's completely different in practice. What we learn now, regardless of what marks we get, directly influences how well we perform our jobs, at least from a knowledge perspective. It's the foundation."

Ryan sighed, clearly unhappy. "I guess."

"Work is different," Marie went on. "It's just going to have to deal with the fact that relationships are more important. Please, Ryan, I just want to graduate before I get into anything serious, okay?"

"Okay," he said reluctantly.

Marie brought his hand to her mouth and kissed his palm. "Sorry to disappoint you, sugar. We don't even know if we'll still be together after we graduate anyway. I'm moving back to New York, and I know you want to stay in Louisiana. It's probably better if we keep our options open, when parting is inevitable."

"We could still make it work," Ryan said.

"We could," Marie said sincerely. "I really hope we do too. But let's get through this last year first, okay?"

"Fine."

"Good."

Marie kissed him and he kissed her back. She really hoped they wouldn't have this discussion again, at least, not until she was released from dating Remy. She felt awful hiding everything from him, but the truth was too complicated, and revealed secrets that were not hers to reveal.

* * *

><p>Jackie regarded Marie with begrudging amusement on the second Saturday of October as she got ready for her date with Remy.<p>

"Doesn't eight o'clock seem a little early for a date?" Jackie asked.

"We are going dirt biking," Marie pointed out, zipping up her brown leather pants.

"I know, but... You are aware you're not going to get out of spending the right with him, right?"

"Believe me," Marie said dryly, picking up her shirt, "I'm not counting on being able to come home tonight."

"A twenty-four hour date doesn't seem excessive?" Jackie enquired, a smirk despite herself.

"I have to admit, my plot to have more public, bright and friendly dates was flawed," Marie said, "It didn't eliminate the private, dark and romantic aspect, it just increased the amount of time I spend with him."

"So I've noticed."

"On the bright side though," Marie went on as she pulled out her socks and boots, "we've been having more fun. More fun and less awkward, so that's good."

"If you say so," Jackie replied dubiously. "I think I'm going to get myself laid today."

Marie laughed.

"Note the change of subject," Marie teased her.

"Hey, I'd much rather think about me getting laid, than mon père trying to lay you," Jackie replied, grinned at the face Marie pulled at that, and continued: "Plus, I'm horny. Have you ever noticed that you go through a couple of days every few months where all you can think about is sex? Personally, I suspect it's heat."

"Better make sure of the protection then," Marie said, smirking at her. "And yes, I have noticed that."

"Oh, good, it's not just me then." Jackie giggled. "And oui, I'll make sure of the protection. I'm not interested in providing an heir just yet. I still have to do three years full time work before I can apply to the FBI, and I definitely don't want to be a mère while that's happening."

"I love the way you talk about having kids," Marie replied dryly. "Do you even want a baby, or is it just an 'heir' thing? Seriously?"

"Seriously?" Jackie asked. "I've always assumed I'd be a mère one day. It's basically a must, really. If I don't, then there's going to be major discord about who's going to the lead the Guild. I mean, in times past, there was always someone else of the LeBeau line or the Boudreaux line, but I'm the only cross. Maman and Papa probably should have given me some siblings, but yeah... That was never going to happen, for obvious reasons."

"Not even half siblings?" Marie asked curiously.

"Actually, no," Jackie replied thoughtfully. "Well, I guess Papa might have some bastard children I—or even he—don't know about, but I know for a fact that Maman has always been very careful not to get pregnant to some other guy. It's one thing for everyone to know they sleep around, quite another to have genetic evidence of that sleeping around."

Marie nodded thoughtfully.

"Anyway," Jackie went on, "for the sake of avoiding potential future bloodshed, I'll probably have a couple of kids. I'm hoping I'll have twins, that way I'll only have to get pregnant once."

Marie giggled.

"So, waiting's good for twins," Jackie said merrily, "increased chances of having twins when you're older."

"You don't resent it?" Marie asked.

"Resent what?"

"Resent basically being forced to be a mother."

"Why?" Jackie asked. "Every Guild leader of either Guild for all our history has been expected to have children. Providing for the future is one of the responsibilities of our position, as is strengthening the family. And there's nothing stopping me from adopting, if I decide that getting pregnant is too much effort. Papa was adopted, and no one thinks that not being a blood relative makes him any less able to lead the Guild. Well, except maybe Oncle Julien, but his opinion on Papa doesn't count."

Marie nodded and shrugged. "I just think that becoming a mother should be something you want to do, and not like, an obligation or something."

"It's not an obligation," Jackie said with a frown. "It's a fact of life. If I want the family line to continue—which I do—then I have to have kids. Simple. Sure, in my case, having kids also means avoiding bloodshed in the future, but let's be serious here, chère, if I die without an heir, I'll still be dead. It won't matter to me then whether the Guild leadership ends up in contention. But, see, I love my Guild, you know? They're my people, my _family_, and if having a child or deux means that I can prevent fighting between them after I go, then I want to do it. No one's forcing me, not really. And quite frankly, the amount of contention that goes on between families in the 'real world' is pretty disgusting, if you ask me. Instead of sticking together, families are splintering instead. Geez, my parents hate each other but they still stay together for the good of our family. You're all very selfish, self absorbed, self obsessed, self, self, self."

"This coming from a thief and a murderer," Marie said blandly.

"Absolument," Jackie replied gleefully. "So therefore it should have more weight coming from me: I'm opportunistic and prey on the selfishness and greed of others, and I _still_ have better family values than everyone else."

Marie laughed, and there was a knock at the door. She got up and opened it, to find Remy standing there, leaning against the doorframe.

"Morning," he said to Marie, and then lifted his head to make eye contact with Jackie, who was just in his line of sight from the doorway. "Morning, Sunshine."

"Bonjour, mon père," Jackie replied, standing up and wandering over, still in her night gown. "Trust you to figure out how to monopolise Marie for a whole day."

"What can I say?" Remy said with a shrug. "I just can't resist a belle femme."

Jackie made a rude noise.

"So," he went on, "what are your plans for today?"

"I'm going to get laid," Jackie said cheerfully. "Preferably multiple times with deux different guys. Maybe quatre if I wear out the first pair too soon."

"Ouias, it's good to pace yourself," Remy replied with a nod.

Marie looked between them and shook her head. "You two are not normal."

"Good," Jackie replied. "Normal is for the weak."

"All I'm saying is that, even if my dad and I were on speaking terms right now, there is no way whatsoever that I would tell him I planning on having sex with one guy, let alone four in one day," Marie said.

"Actually, you raise a good point," Jackie said thoughtfully. "I think I'm going to have to call Sy this afternoon and see if he's up for another threesome."

"With Varian?" Remy asked with a slight smirk.

"Heh, that was awesome," Jackie replied, grinning. "And not a bad idea, if I can convince them a second time."

"You really weren't kidding when you said you were horny, were you?" Marie asked.

"My vagoo is yearning for cock."

Remy laughed and Jackie grinned at him while Marie shook her head once more.

"Well," he said once he recovered, "I was going to invite you to join us dirt biking, but since you have other plans, I guess I won't. Don't get over-excited and catch something nasty, okay Sunshine?"

"I think I can manage that," Jackie said as Marie stepped the rest of the way through the doorway. "You deux have fun now. Don't get over-excited and break any bones, okay Papa?"

Remy chuckled. "Okay, Sunshine."

Marie and Remy departed then, and Jackie closed the door behind them. She pondered for a moment, then changed into a tank top and a pair of short shorts, grabbed a couple of boxes from her desk drawer, then left her dorm and headed up the stairs to Toby's room. She knocked on the door, and continued knocking until Toby's room mate, Harry, opened it.

"Jackie?" he questioned her. "What the hell? It's Saturday morning."

"I'm horny, and I'm giving you and Toby this once in a lifetime opportunity to screw my brains out," Jackie replied.

Harry stared at her.

"This is a joke right?" he asked.

Jackie held out the boxes she had removed from her desk drawer only moments before. "I have ribbed, and cherry flavoured."

"Harry?" Toby's voice came from the other end of the room. "What's going on?"

"Uhh," Harry said, his eyes on the previously opened boxes of condoms, "Jackie's offering to have sex with us. Or at least that's what she said."

"Both of you," Jackie said firmly. "Not just one or the other, both. And I'm getting impatient. You've got thirty seconds to decide before I go elsewhere."

Harry then looked out into the hallway, inspecting carefully.

"What?" Jackie demanded.

"I'm checking for spectators and cameras," he said as a sleepy looking Toby came to the doorway.

"Ugh, it's not a joke," Jackie said irritably.

"Well, you can't blame me," Harry said, not entirely convinced there wasn't a hidden camera somewhere. "We're not exactly the kind of guys that hot chicks like you decide to come onto."

"Today's your lucky day then," Jackie replied blandly. "Ten seconds."

"I'm pretty sure this is a dream," Toby said then, and reached out for Jackie's arm. "In which case, I don't know why I'm dreaming about having a threesome with you and Jackie and not Jackie and Marie, but I'll take it."

"Finally!" Jackie said, pushing inside with little help from Toby. "And don't worry, Toby, if this is a dream, it'll be the best one of your life."

Harry shut the door.

* * *

><p>Remy and Marie stopped for breakfast on the way to the tracks. They had a great time riding the dirt bikes, stopping only for lunch in the middle, and then again when they were done riding for the day. They picked up a pizza on the way home, and then curled up in front of the TV together and watched a movie while they ate.<p>

Marie had come to enjoy these moments. It was warm and cosy, and very easy for her to believe that they were both just friends hanging out together.

Eventually, however, the movie came to an end. Remy turned everything off and Marie followed him upstairs to his bedroom and changed in the ensuite as she always did. On the way and in the bathroom she mentally prepared herself for what was to come, carefully tucking her guilt away in a tight little box where it wouldn't interfere with what was left of the evening. When she was of a mind to be honest with herself, Marie did enjoy making out with Remy, it was just when she remembered that he was married, or that Jackie was his daughter, or that she was making out with him in order to pay for the dose of the Cure, that she started to feel awkward and uncomfortable. All these things she had to push away and try to forget for the duration, otherwise she just couldn't relax and she couldn't 'play' either, as Remy insisted on calling it.

Marie frowned, holding up the tank top that had been with her bed shorts. It was white and thin, and it was not the cute "Hello Kitty" top she had bought.

"Hey, Swamp Rat," she called through the door. "Where's my Hello Kitty shirt?"

"Oh right, forgot about that," Remy's voice called back. "It got ruined in the wash, so I got you a new one."

"It got ruined in the wash," Marie said disbelievingly.

"Oui."

"And you, out of the kindness of your heart," Marie said, stopped to pull it over her head and continued, "bought me a brand new one."

"It seemed only fair."

Marie glared at her reflection in the mirror, her nipples clearly visible through the thin fabric.

"One that just _happens_ to be see-through?" she said indignantly.

"Oh really?" Remy asked through the door with false innocence. "I'm so sorry, chère, I had no idea."

"Yeah, right," Marie scoffed.

She wrapped one arm over her chest, almost slammed open the sliding ensuite door and came stalking out, much to Remy's surprise. Without looking at him, she stalked over to his wardrobe and started picking through his shirts. Remy chuckled.

"It's not funny, Swamp Rat," Marie practically growled.

Abruptly she felt a hand on her waist, but before she could protest, a black tank top appeared in front of her face.

"I got you a black one as well, in case the white wasn't acceptable," he murmured into her ear.

Marie closed her eyes and lifted her free hand to take the black shirt.

"You really suck, you know that, right?" she said.

Remy trailed his fingers lightly along her back. "What can I say, chère? I have a weakness for beautiful women, and you are by far most beautiful."

Marie gave him a not-too-gentle nudge with her elbow as he attempted to kiss her neck, pushed past him and stalked back into the ensuite. Remy smiled to himself and laid down on the bed. Moments later, Marie came back out again, now in the black tank top and sat down on the bed next her him. Remy looked up at her cross expression.

"Mad at me, chère?" he asked.

"My Hello Kitty tank did not get ruined in the wash, and you know it," she said, glaring at him.

"But you don't," Remy replied mildly. "And see? I made it up to you. I bought you deux shirts as replacements."

"You bought one replacement, and another to annoy me with."

"Well, when you put it that way," Remy said wickedly, sitting up. "You may have a point."

He leaned into her and brushed her lips with his.

"So, what are you doing to do about it?" he challenged her.

Marie pushed him away, and he fell back on his arms.

"Better question," she said darkly. "What are _you_ going to do about it? You've got some serious grovelling to do, Swamp Rat."

Marie was quick to turn her back on him and lay down on her stomach on the bed. Because she was so quick, she missed the delighted expression that appeared on his face. She felt him get off the bed, though, and then sit back on the bed by her legs after he'd gotten something from a nearby drawer. She heard the sound of a lid opening, and then closing again a moment later. She heard him clap his hands together, and finally she felt him put those same, now oily, hands down on her upper thighs.

"Hey," she objected, "what you think you're doing back there?"

"Well, we did spend most of the day riding dirt bikes," Remy replied mildly as he gently rubbed her skin, "and since that is an activity you don't do on a regular basis, I figured you might be a bit sore."

"Oh," Marie said, silently admitting she was a bit sore, and then said imperiously: "Carry on then."

Remy chuckled. "Oui Madame."

* * *

><p>The following morning, Jackie was in the middle of having breakfast and reading a book when Toby appeared. She ignored him until he sat down next to her.<p>

"Hey Jackie," he said.

"Little early for you to be up, isn't it?" Jackie asked, still not looking at him.

"Oh, well, uhh, a little," Toby replied. "So, umm, I was wondering..."

Jackie looked up at him irritably when he trailed off.

"What?" she demanded. "You were wondering what?"

"Oh, umm, if you and I could... You know..."

Jackie just continued looking at him. Toby swallowed.

"Have sex," he said finally.

"Nah," Jackie replied, and turned back to her book. "Not in the mood."

"Oh," Toby said, clearly disappointed. "What if—"

"Ugh," Jackie said, looking back at him with a pained expression on her face. "You're not going to be all clingy are you? Look, I'm sorry if your first time wasn't all you dreamed it would be—"

"It wasn't my first time!" Toby objected.

Jackie snorted with laughter.

"Oh fine, it was," Toby grumbled under his breath. "But that doesn't mean—"

"Look," Jackie interrupted with obvious irritation, "just because I like casual sex does not mean I'm easy. Nor does the fact that I knocked on your door yesterday mean I have any romantic interest in you. Shoo fly, don't bother me."

Jackie turned back to her book and breakfast once more. Toby made another attempt to talk to her, but she just ignored him and he eventually left.

* * *

><p>"Did you seriously sleep with Toby?" Sandra demanded of Jackie the moment she walked into the club room on Monday.<p>

Jackie shrugged as she sat down. "I woke up horny, and he and Harry were right upstairs."

"Harry too?" Sandra asked.

"Of course," Jackie said with a nod. "One on one is boring."

"Toby didn't mention that part."

Jackie sniffed derisively. "Yeah, well, that's 'cause he's easy and desperate."

"So were you, apparently," said Chris, smirking.

"I'm neither easy, nor desperate," Jackie replied matter-of-factly. "I have certain standards which must be met, and if those standards cannot be met, then I move onto the next guy."

"Yeah, you're a slut," said Chris.

"I don't deny being a slut," Jackie said as she inspected her nails. "But you seem to be under some misconception that because I enjoy casual sex, it automatically means I have low standards about who I choose to sleep with."

"Well," Sandra said with a grin, "you did sleep with Toby, and Harry."

"Yeah, every now and then I decide to deflower a virgin for kicks," Jackie replied merrily. "In this case, it was a two-for-one sale."

Sandra laughed.

"Umm, you can't deflower a guy," Chris said.

"Well, technically you can't deflower a girl either," Jackie replied. "None of us actually grow flowers on our bodies. Now, if you must insist on shaming someone about being _easy_, you should be harassing Toby and Harry, who were so _desperate_ they lost it to the first hot chick to knock on their door."

Sandra giggled.

"Honestly," Jackie went on merrily, "I think it's highly hypocritical of guys to go around calling us femmes easy, when they'd put out for any femme who so much as walks by."

"You do make a good point," said Sandra. "Although not all guys are as obsessed with sex as media likes to make out."

"Heh, make out," Jackie said with a grin.

Sandra pulled a face at her.

"But I get your point," Jackie said. "It's still hypocritical of the ones who do obsess over sex all the time to call the femmes they sleep with easy, though."

"Takes one to know one?" Sandra suggested. "I'm totally going to start calling easy guys 'easy' now."

Jackie laughed. "We can all start calling them 'easy' and start shaming them for their easiness."

"Although... Do you think they'll start thinking of it as a badge of honour?" Sandra asked thoughtfully. "I mean, it is socially more acceptable for guys to sleep around than for girls."

"Which is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Jackie said firmly. "If all the hommes in the world slept around, and none of them femmes did, all the hommes would be screwing each other."

"You're right, of course," said Sandra. "We've lived with this double standard for too long."

"Oui, we have."

"If guys are going to slut-shame girls—Chris," Sandra went on with a glare at Chris, "then we should have the right to slut-shame guys."

"Absolument," Jackie said.

"Uhh," Chris said, looking between the two women. "You go girl?"

* * *

><p>Soft lighting lit up the Paddlewheeler <em>Creole Queen<em> in the evening dark on its journey along the Mississippi River. Remy was in a nice, freshly pressed dinner suit and he thought Marie looked absolutely stunning in her emerald-green dress. They were seated at one of the many four-seater tables by a window, their plates were laden with food from the buffet table, and they each had a glass of drink from the bar.

"And now you can strike 'cruise on a paddleboat' off your list of things to do," Remy said to Marie with a grin.

"It was never on my list, sugar," Marie replied, smirking at him. "I've been on the _Creole Queen_ before."

"You have?"

"My folks took me when I was a kid."

"Hmph," Remy grumbled. "Spoil my fun."

Marie laughed at him.

The pair spoke very little during dinner; there wasn't a whole lot to talk about, and in any case they were both enjoying the live jazz band. After they head their fill, they wandered out onto the deck to look out on the view and see all the lights reflecting off the water. It was cold enough that Marie was pleased with her decision to wear gloves tonight, but was sincerely regretting choosing a shawl instead of a jacket. When Remy realised she was cold, he took off his own jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. Marie smiled up at him.

"Thanks sugar," she said softly.

"You're welcome," he replied, putting his arm around her waist.

She lifted her head and kissed his lips gently, then rested her head against his shoulder and sighed contentedly.


	15. Chapter 15

**AN: **

**WARNING! **There is a scene in the chapter to follow which (sorry about the spoilers) contains rape and murder. I'm telling you this, because I know that some people are squeamish and otherwise uncomfortable about this sort of thing. I'm squeamish myself, and don't consider the scene to be graphic (I don't think I _could_ be graphic with this kind of thing even if I wanted to be), but some of you may be more sensitive than I am (I'm "faint at the sight of gore" rather than "faint at the sight of blood", and I mean _faint_ literally). **If you wish to skip the scene, look out for the words "SKIP ME" and "READ ME" written in bold after scene breaks. **You won't miss out on the aftermath/relevant plot points, but you will be spared the details.

While we're on the subject, I would like to add that I neither endorse nor approve of murder. For that matter I don't endorse or approve of rape, stealing, recreational drug use or adultery either. Also, while there are details about the murder in question, I can't be certain it would actually work, with or without being caught by the authorities, even if mutants did exist in real life. All research was done via Google, and is therefore readily available to anyone who wants to look it up, if you weren't already aware of the murder weapon(s). (In other words, my conscience is clear, and I don't feel like I've provided anyone with the blueprints to commit their own murder).

Apologies to anyone who finds the "SKIP ME" and "READ ME" tags more distracting than useful.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 15<strong>

Jackie stepped out of the locker room at the gym some days later and nearly ran right into Perry, one of Mason's fellow football players, who was leaning against the wall.

"Hey Jackie," he said.

"Hi," Jackie replied.

She attempted to step around him, but he got back in her way.

"So I was wondering if you'd like to hook up sometime?" he asked.

She stopped and looked at him thoughtfully. "Are you asking for a date or a screw?"

Perry hesitated briefly, and then said: "A screw."

"Fine, who's your third?"

"Third?"

"Yeah," Jackie said. "One on one is boring. Who else is coming?"

"I figured it would be just us..." Perry replied slowly. "But hey, if one of your girl friends wants to join us, I won't complain."

"Yeah?" Jackie asked, cocking her eyebrow. "And what about one of my boy friends?"

"No way," Perry said, shaking his head. "I'm not doing any guy."

"Well, unless you do a two-boy threesome with me, you're not getting a two-girl threesome with me," Jackie informed him shortly.

"Hey, I'm not touching some other guy's wang!"

Jackie gave him a condescending look. "No one said you had to, numb-nuts. We just do whatever everyone's comfortable with when the time comes. Come on, you're a footballer, surely you're used to being naked in front of other guys?"

Perry scowled at her and Jackie smirked back at him.

"Think about it," she said, stepping around him again. Perry tried to grab her, but she shook off his grip as if he were no more annoying than a fly. "Talk to me when you lose the double-standards."

* * *

><p>The following Saturday night, while Marie was on another date with Remy, Jackie was at a party. Jackie loved parties; they were great opportunities to hook up with cute guys, and gain potential blackmail material from those she was with. There was nothing like taking discreet photos of irresponsible behaviour, making note of everyone who brought or otherwise used drugs, and conning tidbits of information out of drunk people. Why people insisted on getting drunk, Jackie had no idea. Alcohol wasn't <em>that<em> exciting.

An hour or so into the party, Jackie was chatting with Mason and his new girlfriend, Elise. While they chatted, Jackie picked her cup of beer back up off the table, which she'd nearly forgotten about. She brought it to her lips and took a sip while Elise yammered on about some new shoes she bought, and then paused as she tasted the liquid that ran down her throat.

"Will you excuse me a moment?" Jackie asked.

"Oh sure," Elise replied. "Actually, I want another drink anyway."

Jackie just smiled politely, and turned her back as Elise and Mason moved on, her eyes scanning the room, looking for someone who was watching her. Her expression looked casual, but hid an extremely pissed off young woman. When she caught the bastard who had put GHB in her drink—something which she had a number of extensive lessons with Bella Donna on how to identify—he should consider himself lucky she wasn't allowed to kill for personal reasons.

Her eyes settled on Perry, who was sitting on a lounge nearby, trying to pretend like he wasn't watching her. Jackie stared at him until he finally looked back at her and caught her eyes. She offered him a smile and lifted her cup to her lips, watching his eyes as she pretending to drink. Definitely him.

Jackie swaggered over and leaned over him.

"Hi Jackie," he said.

"Hi," she replied, and promptly poured the rest of her drink into his lap, making a nice, highly noticeable wet patch on his light-coloured pants.

"Hey!" Perry objected loudly.

"Oh gross!" Jackie shouted, making sure that everyone in the immediate vicinity heard her. "Perry's wet himself."

"I did not!" Perry objected as people turned to look and pointed at Jackie. "It's beer! Her beer!"

"Perry wet his pants," Jackie mocked him. "Perry wet his pants."

"Bitch!"

He tried to grab her but she scampered out of the way.

"Don't come near me." she said. "You're disgusting."

She lost him in the crowd, managed to get a couple of photos with the camera on her mobile phone, and then proceeded to spend the rest of the party spreading rumours about Perry soiling himself.

He'd better not try anything like that again, Jackie decided, or public humiliation would be the least of his worries.

* * *

><p>"Oh hey, Marie," said Ryan, catching up to her in the hallway. "You get my message?"<p>

"Yeah," Marie replied with a nod. "I'll copy my notes for your after next class."

"Great, thanks a lot," he said, sounding relieved. "Oh, by the way, who's Remy?"

"Remy?" Marie queried, feeling awkward.

"You know," Ryan said. "The guy you've left a message for on your voice mail? 'If this is Remy, don't do it'?"

"Oh that Remy," Marie said. "That's Jackie's dad. He's trying to give up smoking, so I said he could call me when he needed to be talked out of having a cigarette."

"Oh okay," Ryan said, offering her a grin. "Hey, that's really nice of you."

Marie shrugged. "Well, knowing Jackie, if he called her, she'd probably talk him into having one, just to be perverse."

Ryan laughed. "True that."

* * *

><p><strong>SKIP ME<strong>

On the last Friday before they went on break for Thanksgiving, Jackie returned to college for her night class after leaving briefly for an early dinner. She was early, but simply took this as an excuse to dawdle to the lecture room.

"Hi Jackie."

Jackie turned her head to look at Perry, who was leaning against the wall nearby with his hands behind his back. She frowned inwardly as she caught the stench of something that smelled like gasoline.

"Hi Perry," Jackie replied snidely.

"What do you say, we let bygones be bygones?" Perry asked, holding out one of his hands.

Jackie just laughed at him and continued walking by.

"Oh come on," said Perry. "Look, I don't know what you have against me—"

Jackie whirled around and caught his eyes. "GHB. _That's_ what I have against you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he replied.

Jackie snorted contemptuously and flicked her hand at him. "Whatever you have to tell yourself. _I_ have a class to get to."

She started walking off again and Perry trotted up next to her, the smell following him.

"Come on," he said, putting his hand around her back and up to her shoulder. "I'm not all that bad."

Jackie had no chance, or even ability to reply. The hand he put around her shoulder held a cloth, a cloth which smelled very heavily and was thrust into her face. Jackie inhaled with no choice in the matter, feeling ditzy and light-headed as a burning sensation went up her nose. She lurched forward, her legs collapsing beneath her as she blacked out.

Perry dragged her into one of the nearby chemistry labs. He'd seen her sparring in the gym and knew he wouldn't have a chance in a physical battle against her, and since her willing participation was out, drugs were his only option. It was unfortunate that the dose of ether he had to give her was likely to be deadly, but he couldn't count on being able to hold the cloth to her nose long enough for a lesser dose to take effect.

He had no idea she was a mutant, let alone that her powers had kicked in automatically to deal with the foreign chemical in an instinctual act of self-preservation. Perry closed the door, turned back to Jackie and began undoing her pants.

Jackie's mind came back first. It took her a moment to process what was happening, but she could feel the burn of her powers at work within her. She felt something else within her too. Her eyes snapped open.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Her voice came out ragged initially, but started to clear.

Perry lifted his head in shock, both at the fact that someone who should be unconscious—if not dead—was talking to him, and her demonic, red-on-black eyes, which seemed to glow with unbridled fury.

"How... You..." he stammered.

"How'd I survive your misuse of school property?" Jackie asked in a dangerously saccharine-sweet voice, pushing herself up on her arms as mobility returned. "S'il vous plait, I'm Le Diable Blanc, Master Thief and Assassin, Crown Princess of the United Guilds, and the nightmare of anti-mutant bigots everywhere."

"Assass-" Perry began.

"Whoops! Did I say that out loud?" Jackie said with over-exaggerated false innocence. "Oh no, I guess I'm just going to have to kill younow."

Perry pulled out (not that that he had far to go, the scare had caused him to shrivel up somewhat) and started to back off, but Jackie was able to grab his wrist before he could get too far. As the last of the drug dissipated from her system, Jackie grabbed his other wrist and was able to create the illusion of his long shirt sleeves fusing together, binding his arms tightly, and it was effective enough to convince Perry he couldn't pull his arms apart. She always did prefer making illusions with inanimate objects; sure, it was a pest she couldn't create illusionary objects out of thin air, but at least nonliving objects were easier to manipulate than living ones.

"What? How?" he questioned fearfully.

"I told you," Jackie replied with a voice of cold steel, "I'm Le Diable Blanc."

She stood and pushed Perry towards one of the desks in the chemistry lab. He attempted to struggle at first, but between her knowledge of pressure points and her boot knife to his throat, Perry soon co-operated.

"Now let's see," she said pleasantly as she forced him to sit down, and then reorganised the illusion binding his arms together to allow a big enough gap to fit around the tap, and then tightened it again. "The most likely cause of death for males between 18 and 24 is motor vehicle accident, but really, I think this calls for a death far more suited to the crime, don't you think?"

She ignored him while he whimpered and begged her not to kill him.

"And since you seem to like ether so much," Jackie went on, eyeing off the container on the desk, which Perry had obviously pulled out earlier, "that's probably the best place to start. Why, you've probably already got your fingerprints all over the storeroom when you stole the stuff in the first place, non? Does make things easier for me."

"You can't do this!" he shouted. "You'll never get away with it!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Jackie replied scornfully. "I've been getting away with murder since I was eight."

Perry gaped at her, trying to yank his arms free to no avail, certain and terrified that she was actually telling the truth.

"Now let's see..." Jackie mused, turned and retrieved the villainous rag from the floor. "Someone's been a naughty boy, and has been using ether for recreational purposes; shame on you, don't you know drugs don't solve anything? And just to make things worse, instead of doing the intelligent thing and taking your stolen property home with you, you decided to have your little binge at the college."

She plopped the rag in front of him on the bench. Perry strained to get away while she positioned the container of ether in the right place. Jackie took out a packet of cigarettes from her bag, and a Bunsen burner from the cupboard and placed them side by side.

Jackie reached over and did Perry's pants back up, then knocked over the ether and added another 'whoops' when it spilled over his crotch. Perry started crying, and Jackie went back to ignoring him while he begged for his life and promised he'd never tell anyone and that he'd never try to rape anyone ever again. She lit the Bunsen burner, making certain she didn't accidentally light herself from her own exposure to the highly flammable ether.

Finally, she took one of the cigarettes, then retrieved her pants and put them on, watching Perry carefully all the while. No doubt the fumes of the ether would be getting to him soon, if they weren't already, and Jackie wanted him conscious enough to feel the next part. She stood near the door, and lit the cigarette, using a light charge with the tip of her finger.

"No, no," Perry begged her. "Please don't."

"Au revoir, mon ami," she replied coldly.

She flicked the cigarette into the air, and it landed in Perry's highly-flammable lap with a precision that would make both her parents proud. Perry began to scream and it was only then that Jackie undid the illusion containing his arms. She turned her back and strode from the chemistry lab without a second glance, although Perry's blood-curdling screams made her smile.

Fortunately, there was no one in the hallway, for which Jackie was relieved. If someone had seen her come out of the lab, she would have had to kill them too. It was bad enough that she had to show up at the lecture room soon or someone may notice her absence. On the bright side, extensive lessons with her father had taught her how to do things like how to charge and blow up air, and do the same with any form of dirt on her clothes for that always-presentable look. As such, she was able to get rid of the ether smell, although she did so very carefully, not wanting one of her charges to set herself alight. Her bag was still in the hall, and she picked it up gingerly.

Jackie stopped via the bathroom on the way, where she washed her bare skin, checked her appearance, and then used her handheld to check on security surveillance. One of the first things she had done when coming to college was to check the locations of all security cameras; mostly it was outdoor locations she had to be concerned with, rather than classrooms, so what happened in the chemistry lab would have gone unrecorded. Jackie confirmed her route to the lecture room, and once she was certain she was stench-free, she hurried on her way.

* * *

><p><strong>READ ME<strong>

Jackie sat in her car and rested her head against the steering wheel. Adrenaline, anger and extensive training was what got her through Perry's attack, but now that her class had been cancelled and emergency services were at work, she only felt exhausted. She didn't even have enough energy left to hide her eyes and had been forced to resort to using her sunglasses instead of illusions.

Finally, Jackie worked up the strength to actually start the car and drive back to the dorms. Marie was on a date with Ryan tonight, and wouldn't be there when she arrived. Good. Jackie just wanted to go straight to bed, and she didn't want Marie to have any idea that she may have started the fire tonight.

* * *

><p>"Yeah, I'm fine, Bobby."<p>

Jackie frowned slightly as she woke up to those four words. She turned her head slightly as she opened her eyes and spotted Marie on the phone. Sunlight was streaming in through the open window.

"They said a couple of people died, but I don't know who yet," Marie said into her phone. "My room mate might know—she had a night class last night—but she hasn't woken up yet."

Marie was quiet for a moment, and then spoke again: "Yeah, I think I would like to join you guys for Thanksgiving this year. It would be one thing if it was school as normal next week, but it's not."

Jackie yawned and propped herself up on her elbow while Marie made plans with Bobby to be picked up, and ended the call.

"Oh hey," Marie said, her eyes landing on Jackie. "You're awake."

"Yeah," Jackie replied, sitting up.

"So, umm... There was a fire in the chemistry lab, last night?"

"Yeah," Jackie said again. "My class had only just started when we got the alarm too. When did you find out?"

"It was on the news this morning. I found out over breakfast," Marie said, sitting down on the edge of her bed, sounding unhappy. "They said a couple of people died."

"A couple, huh?" Jackie said with a frown. "You know more than I do then. Although... Now that you mention it, I seem to recall seeing an ambulance before I left."

She had just the vaguest recollection of an ambulance amongst the fire trucks and police vehicles. Wow, she must have been worse off than she thought.

"Yeah, they umm," Marie stopped and chewed her bottom lipped before continuing: "They said someone had actually been in the fire, burned beyond recognition. And umm, one of the faculty apparently noticed the fire and tried to get a start on putting it out before fire crews arrived. He died on the way to hospital from smoke inhalation, but they haven't said who..."

"Well, that was stupid," Jackie said. "A fire in the chemistry lab could be just about anything. Should have known better than to try and be a hero, and let the professionals do the job."

"Apparently," Marie said tersely, "he didn't realise the fire was as big as it was, Miss Compassion For Your Fellow Human Being."

Jackie shrugged and stood up. "It's way too early in the morning to pretend to be caught up that someone died. Désolé, chère, but it's a fact of life that people die."

Marie shook her head as Jackie headed to the bathroom, stripping off on the way. She should have known better than to expect any kind of emotion from an assassin about the death of others.

Jackie grabbed a towel and shut the bathroom door behind her, making sure to lock it as well. She started the shower and stepped inside when the temperature was to her liking.

For her, it was killing Perry that stood out the most. Although intellectually she knew what he did to provoke that reaction from her, she couldn't actually remember the rape itself, and were it not for the soreness between her legs, she may have even doubted that part of it happened. Jackie was more inclined to believe it was a side-effect of the ether, rather than a part of her trying to repress the memory. For that matter, Jackie couldn't figure out how her powers managed to save her. Externally, sure, she'd practised charging all sorts of flammable and non-flammable material, but internally? It seemed a wonder she hadn't burned herself alive.

Jackie frowned, now mulling over what she'd done the night before, and starting to get irritated at her sloppy work. She hated last minute murders: there always seemed to be some details she missed. She should have made him actually smoke a cigarette first. Although for that matter, shouldn't a chemistry major know better than to have an open flame near ether? And she didn't even think to check that there were no signs of her presence in the room either! Jackie grumbled to herself as the water poured down her body. Now she had to hope that the fire destroyed any evidence that was there, which she should have gotten rid of herself, and that no one would think anything of any 'evidence' that should have been there, but wasn't. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy! She may as well have shot him in the head and left the gun around with her fingerprints all over it.

She contemplated telling Bella Donna what had happened. But...that would involve telling her she got raped (even if she couldn't really remember it). And it would also involve admitting that she'd let her guard down. She must have let her guard down, or else how on earth had Perry managed to get that close to her? The fact that some upstart college kid had actually almost succeeded in killing her was frankly, rather embarrassing. Her mother would not approve of her admitting her humiliation to anyone. And admitting sloppy work wasn't a good idea either; she was supposed to be better than that. Jackie sighed. She'd just have to wait and hope everything would be okay, although the very idea made her cringe.

She wouldn't tell Remy either. Sure, he would never make her feel bad about admitting weakness (although he quite agreed with Bella Donna that certain admissions should never be public), and he would likely be furious that someone raped her but... But he always got this sad look in his eye every time he found out she killed someone. She didn't know what it meant, only that she didn't like it. Her father was definitely a Thief, that was certain. Like most of the Thieves, he didn't like killing, although he had out of necessity. It wasn't something he liked talking about.

And telling Marie was completely out of the question. She knew far too much as it was, and Remy had advised her not to involve Marie in any of her hits. Besides, even if she did, Marie would ask her why she didn't do the more socially acceptable thing: disable her attacker and call the police. Jackie snorted in contempt at that idea. Even if it had occurred to her at the time, she still wouldn't have done it. Aside from the fact that Perry had tried to kill her, and had seen her real eyes (an unacceptable security risk to the Guild), Jackie had no interest in getting caught up in either a police investigation or a court system that may allow Perry to get off scott-free, or worse, would hinder her application to the FBI later. Besides, surviving the ether would mean publicly revealing she was a mutant, and while Jackie was not the slightest bit ashamed of her mutant status, she did consider it to be her ace-in-the-hole, and wanted to keep it that way.

* * *

><p>"My room mate is an insensitive ass," Marie declared as she sat down irritably into one of the seats of the Blackbird.<p>

"Alright then," Bobby said, blinking at her from the pilot's chair. "Good to see you too."

Marie smiled faintly and sighed.

"Sorry," she said as the ramp lifted up. "Jackie's all 'death is inevitable, get over it'. Not really the words I want to hear right now."

"She sounds like a delightful person," Bobby replied, musingly as the Blackbird started up into the air. "Do they know who died yet?"

"Umm, the guy who died of smoke inhalation turned out to be our program director, Donald Harris," Marie replied. "As far as I know, they're still looking into the identity of whoever it was that died in the fire itself. Whoever it was, it wasn't one of the people I usually hang out with—we've all been calling and checking on each other. Of course, it's hard to tell who might be missing, because there are a stack of people who have all gone home for Thanksgiving."

Bobby nodded thoughtfully.

* * *

><p>Sy's firm chest was surprisingly comfortable to lay her head on, Jackie decided. They were both naked and curled up in his bed. Sy's hand trailed lazily down her back.<p>

"Having fun down there?" Sy asked after awhile.

"Mmmhmm."

Sy laughed softly. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"Alright, but I've never known you to be a snuggler."

"I thought I'd see what the fuss was about."

"And?"

Jackie sighed lightly before answering: "I think I could get used to it."

Sy chuckled, Jackie sighed again, and then kissed him from his chest to his chin.

"You sure you're okay?" Sy asked. "You seem pretty quiet. Usually we'd be well into round deux by now."

"Aww," Jackie said, batting her eyelids at him. "Am I holding you up?"

"Nah, I have all day," he replied, lifting his hand to flick some hair out of her face. "You just don't seem like yourself."

"Oh, well, that's because I'm not really Jackie at all," she said, grinning at him. "I'm a shapeshifter."

"Oh are you now?" Sy asked, smirking at her.

"Uh huh, I've come to seduce answers out of you, but you seem to have caught onto my ploy," Jackie went on merrily. "Oh no, whatever will I do?"

Sy lifted her chin to kiss her lightly. "I can think of a few ideas."

"Oh goody."

* * *

><p>The week off for Thanksgiving seemed to go way too fast for Marie's taste. Still, by the time she returned to college, they had found out that the other person who had died was Perry. Marie found herself more caught up about the fact that 'someone' had died, rather than 'Perry' had died, as she hadn't really known him very well.<p>

Everyone on campus that night had been questioned, and it had been decided that the fire had been an accident. Rumour was that he'd been doing drugs, but this was not confirmed and—to Marie's knowledge—it hadn't been explained why he was doing them in the lab, rather than taking them home. In any case, Perry's fingerprints were all over the storage room where the chemicals were kept—a separate and fireproof room from the lab—so no one could dispute that the victim had taken the chemicals himself. The Chemistry Department Head was most upset that the store room had been broken into at all, and new security measures were already in place by the time school returned. The major repairs would come later.

"So," said Remy over dinner on Marie's first Saturday night back, "how was New York?"

"It was good," Marie replied with a nod as she cut up her next mouthful of food. "It was nice to be amongst friends, or at least a sympathetic ear or twelve."

Remy chuckled.

"Were you and...Perry very close?" he asked.

Marie shook her head. "Barely knew him. Jackie probably knew him better, but even then I don't think they hung out much, although she did have a few, umm, friends in the football team, so who knows?"

"Footballer, was he?"

"Yeah. Don't ask me what position, I haven't a clue."

"Really? I thought football was required learning in college," Remy said, giving her a wink.

"Don't give them ideas," Marie replied dryly.

Remy grinned and reached for his glass.

"Of course, there's no way to tell if Jackie and Perry were ever involved or not," Marie went on irritably. "She's been very nonchalant about the whole thing, oh, except when she needs to blend into the crowd and look suitably upset by his tragic passing. Ugh."

"Yeah," Remy said quietly, setting his glass to the side again. "Part of the training. She's been taught since birth that death is no big deal. It happens to everyone, so what does it matter if it happens sooner rather than later?"

"It matters," Marie insisted.

"Oui, it does," Remy said, staring at his plate. "Unfortunately, my daughter needed to be trained to kill, whether I liked it or not."

"And you don't," Marie said, regarding him with interest.

"Seems strange, doesn't it, chère? That someone who hates killing, would marry a woman who does it for a living, and run a company that gets half its profits from murder," Remy said.

"It does, yeah."

"Well, don't spread it around," Remy said ruefully. "I have an image to maintain."

Marie smiled sadly at him.

"If it makes you feel better," Remy said, "Jackie did cry when her grand-père died. Well, after the funeral. At home. In her room. Where no one could see her."

"Oh really?" Marie asked. "Then how'd you find out?"

"I invited myself in, of course," Remy replied. "Now the intelligent thing would have been for Belle and Jackie to comfort each other, seeing as how it was Belle's father who died—heart attack—but ohhh noooo, Belle's little rules about not crying in public extends to family members. If I didn't know better, chère, I'd say I was the woman in this family."

Marie giggled.

"You're in the habit of crying publicly?" she asked him teasingly.

"Well, no," Remy replied. "But I'm sure a lot more accepting of people crying publicly, and I've never scolded Jackie for wanting a cry in my life."

"Bella Donna has?"

"Belle once told Jackie off for crying after she fell over and skinned her knee," Remy said matter-of-factly. "She was only trois."

Marie looked horrified. "Seriously?"

"Oui."

"Why?"

"Do you really want to hear the spiel?"

"Hit me."

Remy chuckled softly. "Belle thinks that in order for femmes to be taken seriously in leadership, they need to be seen as strong and even the smallest sign of weakness will be held against them, whereas men can get away with just about anything. So, she started training Jackie young to hide anything that might be perceived as weak."

"Huh," Marie said thoughtfully. "That explains a few things, actually. Is that where she picked up the 'is for the weak' thing from?"

"Actually she got that from me," Remy replied mischievously. "I thought—still do—that Belle was being ridiculous. I mean, oui, a leader has to be seen as being strong, but not to the extreme Belle was trying to take it. So during one of her rants, I piped up with a 'oui, this thing is for the weak'—I forget exactly what it was—and Jackie thought I was being serious at first, until I started listing stupid stuff like... I don't remember, television, paper... Food, I said food is for the weak."

Marie giggled.

"It's been our little joke ever since," Remy went on, grinning at Marie. "And it has the pleasant side-effect of pissing off Belle, who has gotten much, much better at hiding her annoyance with it over the years."

"Ahh, so the teacher isn't listening to her own lessons, huh?" Marie asked, scooping up her last bite of food on her plate.

"No, she listens," Remy said. "She's just had to break about twenty years worth of 'bad habits' after she came up with her philosophy."

"Well, I can see how that might make things difficult."

"Oh woe is Belle," Remy said dryly.

"Actually," Marie said thoughtfully, "Would you clear up something that's been puzzling me?"

"If I can," Remy replied, pushing his now empty plate to the side of the table.

"You and Bella Donna stay together for the Guild's sake, right?"

"Oui."

"Even though everyone knows your marriage is in a shambles and you two cheat on each other all the time."

"Oui."

"So, at your anniversary party, how is showing off your partners demonstrating a united front?" Marie asked seriously. "Doesn't it seem a little contrary to be putting on a show of 'happily married couple' and then start making out with other people?"

Remy nodded slowly. "This is something else I can blame on Bella actually."

Marie laughed and a waitress came over to collect their plates.

"Would you like dessert?" she asked.

"Oui," Remy said. "We'll have the chocolate mousse, merci."

The waitress noted their order, collected their plates and departed.

"You were saying?" Marie asked.

"Ahh, oui," Remy said. "Initially, Belle cheated on me with another Assassin, Franco, who attended our next anniversary party after I caught them. She fooled around with him, deliberately, in front of me, because she knew I wouldn't make a scene."

"Ahhh," Marie nodded nodding with understanding. "Because having a lovers quarrel in front of everyone wouldn't have been a very united display."

"Exactly. So the next year, I invited my lover and did the same to her."

"And it all when downhill from there."

"Right."

There was quiet for a moment.

"So," Marie said slowly, 'if you could do it over, and you had the choice, would you marry Bella Donna?"

"Oui," Remy said, not even needing a moment's thought and Marie raised her eyebrows at the quickness of his reply. "I love Jackie, and I would never wish her out of existence."

"Oh, of course," Marie said bashfully. "I should have realised that myself."

Remy grinned at her. "Chère... The marriage was arranged, oui, but it was arranged _because _Belle and I were friends. Our pères didn't just decide to pair us off because they had a son and daughter conveniently the same age."

"That was nice of them."

"And for the most part, things have worked out pretty well. It's taken awhile, but the Guilds are united now and not just in name."

"And yet, you're still concerned that if you and Bella Donna divorce—"

"Leading by example," Remy interrupted. "Plus things weren't as good with the Guild when the subject first came up as they are now."

"So, if things are so much better now, why not divorce?"

"Symbolism."

"Ahh."

"Look, honestly?" Remy said seriously. "I think we probably could divorce now and things would be okay, but I don't _know_ that. There are still holdouts, like Jackie's Oncle Julien, and there are certain differences in attitudes that could easily be manipulated by the talented to restart a war. Take my aversion to killing; that is a normal Thief trait. Most of us don't like it, and go out of our way to avoid it. The Assassins think we're being silly and cowardly."

Marie nodded thoughtfully.

"Then too, while both sides are taught to fight, Thieves only need to fight to defend themselves. Assassins are almost always on the offensive," Remy went on. "On the other hand, Assassins never appreciate the damage they can cause to potentially valuable objects."

Marie smiled at the obvious disgust in his voice.

"Seriously, the number of times they've done a raid or something, shot a place to ribbons and completely ruined a valuable painting or vase or some other piece of artwork," Remy said, shaking his head irritably. "There was this one time I knew the place they were going to raid had this rare Picasso, and do you think the louts actually cared? No, I go in to retrieve it, and discover it had bullet holes riddled all the way through it. A _Picasso_ chère. They're only the most expensive paintings in the world, and they shot millions of dollars away in seconds. It was worth more than what we were being paid for the job in the first place."

"Well, I certainly hope you tore into them for their carelessness," Marie said with a serious tone, but with an amused smile on her face.

"Oh you can bet I did. They still couldn't quite understand why I was so upset over 'just a painting', least not until I told them how much it would have been worth if we'd actually been able to sell it."

"So, I'm not really sure if I want to question this too much," Marie said, "but if the painting was so valuable, why wasn't it in a locked vault or something?"

"Oh, it was," Remy said with a nod. "It was in a vault, behind glass in the most secure room in the house. And because it was the most secure room in the house, the members of the household were hiding there."

"Ahh," Marie said. "And I suspect that's all I want to hear about from this story."

"I suspect you're probably right," Remy said. "Anyway, the point is that for all our similarities, we do have certain differences, which could cause strife if someone was determined enough to use any divorce between Belle and I as an excuse to split the Guilds again."

"And they're your friends and family, and you love them, and if by staying married to Belle you can avoid bloodshed between them, you will," Marie said softly.

Remy smiled faintly at her. "That sounds familiar."

"Jackie and I have talked about her 'shooting out an heir' one day, as she likes to put it," Marie said softly.

The conversation was then interrupted by the arrival of their dessert. They thanked the waitress and she departed.

"Anyway, umm... Oh yeah, I was asking her if she resented effectively being forced to have children," Marie went on, looking at her bowl as she scooped up her first mouthful of the chocolate mousse. "She told me she didn't feel like she was being forced, and it was something she wanted to do when the time was right."

Remy nodded. "Belle and I probably should have had at least a second child but... Well, Jackie was more or less the result of us enjoying those first few months of our marriage a hell of a lot."

Marie giggled.

"Things got screwed up though, and another child would have been out of obligation, not because we wanted to," Remy said. "And in any case, I'm sorry that Jackie had to grow up with us fighting all the time. Any other kids would have gone through the exact same thing, and I didn't even like Jackie having to deal with that."

Marie nodded.

"So," she said with a sly grin, "looking forward to being a grandfather?"

She laughed at the face Remy pulled.

"I'm looking forward to grandkids," Remy replied finally. "But I'm not sure I'm ready to be a grand-père just yet."

"Why? Will that make you feel old?" Marie teased him.

"My only daughter is graduating college this year," Remy said. "I already feel old."

Marie laughed.

"And forties is only mid-life at most," Remy went on. "I'm too young to feel like I'm getting old."

"Oh well, you know what the three signs are that you're getting old?" Marie asked.

"What?" Remy asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

"Memory loss, hair loss, and umm..." Marie frowned and snapped her fingers. "What's that third thing again?"

Remy laughed at her joke and Marie grinned at him.


	16. Chapter 16

**AN: **There's a conversation in the opening scene of this chapter involving my all time favourite author, Anne McCaffrey. For the benefit of those who may not have heard of her: Yes, she's real, and so is what is said about her books in the conversation in question, bwahaha. (You have no idea how much giggling I was doing while writing that scene).

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 16<strong>

The fall semester came to an end. Marie joined Remy for Christmas again, up to and including having Christmas dinner at the LeBeau Mansion. The LeBeau Mansion was a bit more extravagant than the Xavier Mansion, but then Xavier's housed a school. On the other hand, the Xavier Mansion was far more modern, although Marie did have to admit it was hard to compete with things like built-in medical facilities and a danger room.

Marie followed Remy into the living room with her hand in his. The living room held a large Christmas tree with a number of presents underneath, and an elderly gentleman whom Marie didn't recognise was sitting on a plush lounge chair.

"Remy, about time you got here," Jean-Luc said, looking up as they came in, and his eyes landing on Marie. "Is this that fille everyone keeps telling moi about? Marie?"

Marie smiled awkwardly as Remy chuckled and led her over.

"Oui, Père," Remy replied a slight smirk on his face. "This is Marie. Marie, this is mon père, Jean-Luc."

"Nice to meet you," Marie said politely.

"How do you know that, fille?" Jean-Luc asked, looking her over. "You might regret meeting me, and that wouldn't be 'nice' at all."

Marie blinked at the unexpected reply. "Well... I...like to be positive."

"Hmph," Jean-Luc grunted and looked back at Remy. "What's wrong, mon fils? Can't find a femme your own age?"

"Non," Remy replied cheerfully. "They're all hiding from me. I think my reputation has caught up with me."

Jean-Luc snorted. "Ha! Your reputation caught up with you years ago."

"Shh! Don't tell it that."

Jean-Luc chuckled and Remy grinned at him.

"So, where is everyone?" Remy asked.

"Carole's having a nap, Mercy and Henri are in the kitchen, and Louis is doing whatever it is that Louis does," Jean-Luc replied.

"Jackie's not here yet?"

"Non," Jean-Luc said, and turned his head once more to Marie as he asked Remy: "So, how long have you deux been together?"

"Deux years," Remy said. "Almost trois."

Marie opened her mouth to protest and closed it again quickly. It had only been one year, not two, but she had belatedly realised that Remy would have been counting from the picnic, which was when his family first considered them to be together. Fortunately, Jean-Luc didn't notice.

"Hmm, almost trois years?" Jean-Luc said, a sly smile appearing. "You actually going to hit the mark, mon fils? Or are you going to be cheap?"

"You wound me, Père," Remy replied, seemed to remember he and Marie were still standing and gestured to a nearby lounge. "Have a seat, chère."

"Thanks," Marie replied as they heard the front door open.

Jean-Luc shrugged as Remy and Marie sat down. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"That you've wounded me, or that I've been cheap?" Remy asked and then spotted Jackie coming down the hall. "Bonsoir Sunshine."

"Bonsoir Papa," Jackie replied, walking into the living room. "Marie, Grand-père."

"Jackie!" Jean-Luc greeted, his voice lighting up with the raising of his arms. "Come here and give me a hug."

"Well, if you insist," Jackie said cheerfully.

She trotted over to him, leaned over and gave him a half hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"How's your mère?" Jean-Luc asked Jackie once she'd straightened up.

"She's well, thank you," Jackie said,

"Bon. Now, have you found yourself a man yet?" Jean-Luc asked, eyeing his granddaughter off. "Or are you still fooling around with Emil's boy?"

"Still fooling around with Emil's boy," Jackie replied coyly, making herself at home on a nearby lounge. "And everyone else's boy."

Marie laughed and Jackie grinned at her. Jean-Luc sighed and looked at Remy.

"I blame you, you know that right?" Jean-Luc said to Remy.

"You can blame me all you want, Père," Remy said, then smiled at Jackie, "but I love ma fille just the way she is."

Before too long, Mercy discovered the new arrivals and informed everyone that dinner was ready. They moved into the elegant dining room, and were shortly joined by Louis and Jean-Luc's wife Carole, whom Marie later found out was his second wife; Henri's mother had passed away while he was still a child.

"Well, aren't you just the cutest little thing," Carole said, when she was introduced to Marie at the dinner table.

"Hmph," Jean-Luc said with a snort. "Kids these days always dying their hair."

"I like it," Carole insisted, admiring Marie's streak of white hair. "It adds character."

"Character?" Jean-Luc scoffed as he loaded his plate up with slices of turkey. "She's too young to be going grey."

"Well, that is rather smart, now that I think about it," Carole mused. "If you put white streaks in your hair now, no one will notice later."

"Or you could just go blonde," Mercy put in with a slight smile.

"Although, bleaching isn't actually good for your hair," Carole went on, frowning critically.

"Actually, my hair grows like this all on its own," Marie said.

"Really?" Carole asked sounding excited. "Honest and truly?"

"Uhh, yeah..." Marie said, a little thrown off by Carole's unexpected enthusiasm.

"Is it a family trait, by any chance?"

"No, umm, actually someone tried to kill me a few years ago," Marie said awkwardly. "My hair turned white and it's never grown out."

"Seriously?" Jackie asked. "That's what happened? Someone tried to kill you and your hair got scared?"

Marie giggled. "It's a long story. Let's just put it down to one of the perks of being a mutant."

"And you're a mutant too?" Carole asked. "Oh this just keeps getting better and better. I don't suppose you've ever read anything by Anne McCaffrey?"

"Umm, no, I don't believe I have."

"Oh you simply must start!" Carole said enthusiastically. "Normally, I'd recommend starting with the _Dragonriders of Pern_ series, but in your case, you should definitely start with _The Tower and the Hive_. The first book is _The Rowan_, but the character you remind me of—"

"Here it comes," Jean-Luc drawled.

"—is her daughter, Damia," Carole said as if Jean-Luc hadn't interrupted her at all. "She and all her descendants have a white streak through their hair."

"Really?" Marie asked, a surprised smile on her face.

"Oui, really. In fact, the whole series is essentially about mutants in space," Carole went on, sounding rather delighted with herself. "Of course, they're not actually called 'mutants', they're called 'Talents', and their abilities are a bit more uniform than they are in real life. Damia is a Prime—a level one telepath and telekinetic."

"Cool."

"And if I recall correctly," Carole said, a grin appearing on her face as she looked at Remy, who was busy slicing his meat into bite-sized pieces, "Damia actually marries a man twenty-four years her senior."

Remy lifted his head and regarded her with amusement. "Oh, she does, does she?"

"You're not making that up, are you?" Jackie asked Carole suspiciously.

"If you don't believe me, child, then you can read it yourself," Carole said. "You should read them anyway: Anne McCaffrey is an awfully good writer."

"I can see I'm definitely going to have to look her up," said Marie. "You said 'all' her descendants?"

"Oui," Carole replied with a nod. "I don't exactly recall how many children she ended up having... Eight, I think..."

"Eight?" Marie repeated.

"I guess the age difference didn't hurt his fertility at all," Remy said with a smirk.

"Not at the dinner table, Remy," Jean-Luc scolded.

"Just saying," Remy replied, shrugging.

"Well, it sounds...interesting," Marie said to Carole with a slight smile on her face. "But with eight kids, I think I'll hope that the similarities end with the hair."

"Why's that, chère?" Remy asked, smirking slyly at her.

"Because she doesn't want to shoot out eight of your spawn, Papa," Jackie said. "Hell, I don't want her to push out _any_ of your spawn."

"Jackie," Jean-Luc said, frowning at her.

"And I think now is a good time for a change of subject," Mercy said firmly.

"I didn't know you were a mutant," Louis said to Marie before his mother could suggest an alternate topic. "What's your power?"

Marie chewed her next mouthful of food, not really wanting to answer the question.

"Putting up with idiots," Jackie said pointedly to Louis.

"Very funny," Louis replied, glaring at Jackie.

"I certainly thought so."

"Actually," Marie said after swallowing, but not making eye contact with anyone, "I borrow powers off other mutants."

She decided she would much rather focus on the one thing she liked about her powers. She didn't really want to get into a discussion about the Cure either.

"That's it?" Louis asked dubiously.

"What do you want me to tell you?" Marie asked. "That I can read minds? Move things with my thoughts? Freeze things? Turn my body into steel? Control fire? I've done all of those, some of them at the same time."

"Okay, that's cool," he conceded. "Can you do any of those now?"

"No, it's only temporary," she replied tersely.

"Oooh! Take Jackie's powers!" Louis said gleefully.

"Shut up, douche-bag," Jackie snapped at her cousin.

"Why?" Louis asked. "Afraid I might give her ideas?"

"I hardly think the dinner table is the time and place for blowing things up," Marie said, with her own glare at Louis.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Jean-Luc interjected before Marie could say any more, sounding rather smug.

Remy and Jackie looked at each other and Marie started laughing, realising that they both must have been scolded for such things before. Jean-Luc chuckled himself, and smiled at Marie.

"Good to know there's someone else keeping these deux troublemakers in line," he said to her.

"Ha!" Jackie said. "You love my trouble-making."

* * *

><p>On the first Friday morning of January, Marie and Jackie sat in Jackie's car outside of Remy's home.<p>

"You know this is a bad idea, right?" Jackie said as the front door opened.

"Too late for me to get out of it now," Marie replied with a shrug while Remy stepped through the front door with his bad and locked up. "Besides, how bad could it be? Really?"

"He asked me to take you deux to the airport, Marie. You can say all you want about how sleeping over deux nights in a row not being a big deal, but it is. Especially when he," Jackie said, pointing to Remy who was finally coming down the path towards them, bag in hand, "is involved."

"Bonjour Sunshine, Marie," Remy said, opening up the back door behind Jackie. "And how are we this morning?"

"Pissed off," Jackie informed him shortly, and Remy winced.

"I'm fine, Remy," Marie said placidly. "Thanks for asking. And yourself?"

"Oh, good," Remy replied as he and his bag got inside the car, sounding rather like he regretted asking the question in the first place. "And thanks for driving us, Sunshine, I really appreciate it."

Jackie made a rude noise as Remy shut the door.

"It really is okay, Jackie," Marie said as her friend backed out of the driveway. "I'm sure that...whatever it is that your dad has planned, it'll be fun and won't involve me regretting anything afterwards."

"You hope," Jackie said direly. "So, Papa, just where are you kidnapping Marie off to?"

"Well, it was going to be a surprise," Remy said slowly, "but Marie's going to find out when we get on the plane anyway: We're going to Vegas."

"Seriously?" Marie asked.

"Actually, you could be right, Marie. This might actually be okay after all," Jackie said with surprised sincerity. "Papa's likely to be so distracted by the twenty-four hour gambling, he'll probably forget all about hounding you for sex."

Marie giggled.

"I don't hound Marie for sex," Remy said, sounding cranky, frowned and looked at Marie. "I don't, do I?"

"Yes... No..." Marie said, pulling a face. "You like to push things."

"Now there's the understatement of the century," Jackie said dryly. "You're not staying at the... Which is the hotel that has the Playboy Club?"

"That would be the Palms, and no," Remy replied. "Also, I think I'm just a bit insulted by the implication."

"Then we're even. Because I'm insulted you decided to exploit my friend," Jackie retorted hotly.

"Okay!" Marie interrupted firmly. "You two have to work this out. I know you two are close, or at least you used to be. You're always going to have each other, but there's no guarantee I'm always going to be around, and even if there was, I'm not worth fighting over. I'm certainly not worth ruining your relationship over."

The trip to the airport was rather quiet after that. Still after they arrived, Remy asked Marie if she would mind going inside while he had a quick word with Jackie. Naturally, Marie agreed. She gave Jackie a hug and a thanks, and headed inside with her bag.

"Sunshine, Marie's right," he said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "We shouldn't be fighting."

"And of all the women you could have chosen to take to Vegas with you, you chose Marie," Jackie replied. "You have mistresses and you visit the brothel all the time. Why, why, why do you persist on pursuing Marie? You _know_ she's not interested, and my friend is not some challenge for you to rise to."

"Okay, this might come as a shock," Remy said. "But I actually like Marie."

"Like to get her into the sack, you mean."

"Well, I sure wouldn't say no if she decided she wanted to, and I think all trois of us are well aware of that. That's hardly the point—"

"That _is_ the point!"

"You like her," Remy pointed out. "Why is it so hard to believe that I might like her too, for reasons that don't involve sex?"

"Because I know you," Jackie snapped back at him. "Because the first thing you asked her for was sex, Papa."

"I was drunk—"

"You're not drunk now. You weren't drunk at any of the 'real' negotiations—"

"And I haven't asked her for sex since."

"Oh please," Jackie said scornfully. "You taught me how to negotiate. You taught me the value of planning for the long term."

"And what do you honestly think is the long term for myself and Marie?" Remy asked. "She's going to move back to New York when she graduates, remember? That's not exactly the Mississippi! This dating business isn't going to last, and Marie and I are just going to have to come up with some other arrangement. One, I promise you, that is not going to involve sex."

Jackie sighed.

"Why don't you just tell her the truth?" she asked, sounding tired.

Remy looked at her for a long moment, and finally asked quietly: "Why don't you?"

* * *

><p>Marie put her bag down in the foyer of their suite at the Bellagio hotel and looked around with interest. There was a 'powder room' through a door to the right, and on the other side of the foyer was a living room.<p>

"Wow," she said, spotting the view from the floor to ceiling windows in the living room.

Remy smiled, watching her trot over to have a better look.

"Oui," he said. "You should see it at night."

"I'll make sure of it," Marie said, turning her head to grin at him.

She then stepped through another door leading into the bedroom, which was dominated by a king sized bed. Remy followed, the smile still on his face, and wandered over to the door leading to the bathrooms.

"Marie," he said. "Check this out."

"Mmm?" Marie asked, following him into the vestibule.

"His," Remy said, pointing to one door on the other side of the vestibule, and then to the other, "and Hers."

Marie paused, looking between them as she computed this.

"His and Hers bathrooms? Seriously?"

"Oui."

"Well, that's certainly unexpected," Marie said. "But I approve."

Remy chuckled, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her softly. "I had a feeling you might."

* * *

><p>After stopping for lunch at one of the Bellagio's restaurants, Remy and Marie headed for the casino. Marie found she was actually looking forward to seeing Remy in the casino. They'd played the odd game of poker, but she found a good deal of appeal in seeing Remy in his element. That said, she felt like her eyes were going to bulge right out of their sockets when she stood at the counter with him while he bought thousands of dollars worth of chips. Somehow the number of chips he was given in return didn't seem truly representative of the amount of money involved.<p>

They walked away from the counter and, after shoving half the chips into one of his inside pockets, Remy took Marie's hand and placed the other half in her palm. Marie stared, too shocked to say anything, and a little surprised at the weight of them.

"Alright, chère," he said. "Let's go have some fun, shall we?"

"O-okay," she stammered. "Umm... What am I doing with these?"

Remy gave her a look like she had said something funny. "You use them to gamble at the casino, chère. What else?"

"I know what they're used for," Marie said nervously. "Why are they in _my_ hand? I don't have any money."

"Right, like I was really going to take you all the way to Vegas, and not give you a chance to gamble," Remy said. "Where's the fun in that?"

"I can't gamble with your money, Remy," Marie said, attempting to hand the chips back to him. "I don't even want to gamble with my own, I'm certainly not going to gamble with someone else's."

Remy wrapped both his hands around hers, keeping her fingers firmly, but gently, closed around the chips.

"Exactly," he said. "It's my money, and if I want to let you gamble with it, that's my choice—"

"I'm really not comfortable—"

"How about a wager?" Remy asked, and went on when Marie looked reluctant. "I have the exact same amount of chips in my pocket, right? Now, if I were to double that, I'd break even. That is, I wouldn't actually lose any money in the casino if you lost everything in your hand."

"Okay," Marie said slowly, wondering where he was going with this.

"I'm going to bet you that I can triple it."

Marie looked at him skeptically. "I'm guessing you've done that before?"

"Oui," Remy replied with a nod. "And broken even, and unfortunately, lost a few times. It sucks, but it happens, and it's all part of the game."

"You really are a playboy, aren't you?" Marie asked dryly. "Women, gambling, everything's just all about having fun, huh?"

"Not everything," Remy said, offering her a slight smile. "Now, if I win, you don't complain about me spending money on you any more in any way, shape or form."

"And if you don't?"

Remy shrugged. "What do you want?"

Marie was silent for a moment, not really knowing what to think, other than the fact that Remy wasn't going to let her get away with not gambling with his money.

"Wait," she said. "How will I even know if you've won?"

"You'll see me cash the chips out," Remy replied simply.

"Oh really?" Marie asked suspiciously. "And how do I know you're not just going to buy more chips when my back is turned so it just looks like you've won more than you have?"

Remy shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to trust me."

Marie laughed.

"You wound me, chère," Remy said, pulling a face at her.

"I most certainly do not," Marie replied, smirking at him. "If I did trust you, you'd tell me off for being naive."

Remy opened his mouth to protest, closed it, then opened it again: "You may have a point."

"Ha!" Marie replied smugly.

Remy reached into another pocket and pulled out his wallet. He took out his ID and his key-card to their hotel room, and then handed his wallet to Marie. "There."

"What? Giving me chips isn't enough?" Marie asked, frowning at him.

"This way you know I haven't bought any more chips," Remy said, pressing his wallet on her. "I'm pretty sure I can trust you not to spend anything."

Slowly, Marie's other hand curled around his wallet, eyeing him cautiously.

"And how do I know you're not just going to..." she hesitated, not really wanting to voice Remy's occupation in a casino of all places, "sneak off with it when I'm asleep or otherwise distracted? This place is open 24/7." She didn't want to suggest picking pockets either.

"You'll just have to keep it where I can't find it, won't you?" Remy replied, then a sly glint appeared in his eye and he added: "Or somewhere I'm not allowed... Like your bra."

"Dirty boy," Marie replied disgustedly, then gestured to her other hand. "This wager of yours still doesn't make me any more comfortable with this."

"But think of the challenge you're posing me, chérie," Remy said enthusiastically. "I now have to be able to cash in 150% worth of chips by the time we leave, _and_ I can only start with 50% of what I bought to begin with. It'll be fun. So really, when you think about it, by gambling away the chips I've given you, you're going to be making it harder for me to win, which makes it more fun more me."

"You can twist anything, can't you?" Marie asked, shaking her head.

"Pretty much."

"Alright, since you put it that way, how about this? I think you should quadruple what you have in your pockets," Marie said, watching as Remy's face lit up at the increased challenge, "and if you can't, then you can't spend any more unreasonable amounts of money on me again. So, dinner, movie tickets, normal date expenses, fine. But no more clothes, no presents, and certainly no casino chips."

For the first time, Marie actually saw uncertainly appear on Remy's face, even if it was only for a moment.

"I'm not sure if that's feasible," he said slowly. "I always spend money on my mistresses."

"Remy, the only friend or family member of yours I ever see on a regular basis is Jackie," Marie pointed out. "The rest of them aren't going to know you're treating me any different."

Remy hesitated all so briefly and nodded. "Alright, chère. You've got yourself a wager. Now, let's go have some fun, shall we?"

Despite her agreement to the wager, Marie was initially hesitant about putting any money down. Regardless, Remy led her around the casino, and in his usual charming way, talked her into putting some money down on the blackjack table with him. They played a few rounds before moving onto baccarat, roulette, craps and then finally Remy brought Marie into the poker room.

While Marie had been rather unimpressed with their performances at the other tables, she had a complete change of heart at the poker table, at least with Remy. Her supply of chips continued to decrease, but Remy made a number of significant wins at the poker table. Enough to make up everything they'd lost combined so far.

"Alright chère," he said after they excused themselves from the table. "I'm going to move up to some higher stakes tables. You go have fun. If you get bored of gambling, there's lots of shops you can look at. I'll meet you back at our room about five, d'accord?"

"Okay. Have fun, sugar."

"You can bet on it, chère."

* * *

><p>It was partly boredom, and partly not wanting to use up all the chips in one day that spurred Marie to leave the casino and go window shopping instead. There were a number of clothing stores, many of which were completely out of Marie's price range even if she had been shopping for real.<p>

She got back to their hotel room well before five and just spent some time watching TV before Remy finally returned at ten past. They changed clothes and went out for an early dinner, watched the Bellagio Fountains do their musical routine and finally went to the theatre to see the Cirque du Soleil.

Remy was rather well pleased with how the trip was turning out. Aside from that silliness in the casino earlier (why Marie got so upset about the chips, he had no idea), things were going rather nicely. They had fun and enjoyed a little romance, and even the time apart was good, and not just because he'd been having a blast playing poker.

After the show was over, Remy and Marie headed back to the hotel room, where Remy found himself in a quandary. If this had been a normal date with Marie, he'd be taking her back to the bedroom and making out with her. But it wasn't. They were in Las Vegas and there was a twenty-four hour casino poker room only minutes away that was just begging him to come back.

"Remy?" Marie said, standing at the doorway to the bedroom and eyeing him standing in the living room like he was being weird. "Something on your mind?"

Remy's head jolted up and he looked at her.

"Oh, uhh, not really," he said. "Well...it's just that...it's still kind of early, so I wouldn't mind going down to the casino for a while."

Marie shrugged, looking mildly amused. "So go then."

"But," Remy said, walking over to her and putting his hands around her waist. "If I go I'll probably end up distracted and stay there half the night."

"So?"

"Well, I also want to say here," he said, sounding pathetic, "and be with you."

"Aww," Marie said, wrapping her arms about his neck and nuzzling his nose with her own. "Well, you can't be in two places at once, so you're just going to have to choose."

He kissed her lips gently.

"I'm not sure I can decide, chère," Remy said, "On the one hand, it's you: beautiful, glorious, sexy, amazing you. I love holding you, and kissing you, and touching you and just...just being with you."

"Well, aren't you just so sweet?"

"But I haven't been to Vegas in ages, and I really want to get into Bobby's Room before we leave, but unless I can outdo myself at the poker tables, I don't think that's going to happen because of our wager—"

"Umm," Marie said, giving Remy an odd look. "Why do you want to get into my ex-boyfriend's bedroom?"

Remy looked blankly back at her.

"And I don't see what Bobby has to do with poker, for that matter," Marie went on. "I don't think he's even played."

"Oh! Ha!" Remy said in amusement as realisation hit and he grinned at her. "Bobby's Room is the high stakes poker room here at the Bellagio."

"Ahh," Marie replied with a nod. "Okay, I get it now."

"I visit every time I come here, or mostly. There are world champion poker players in there right now, practically begging me to come join them," Remy said, sighing wistfully. "But because of our wager, I now can't take out the minimum buy-in to get into the game."

"What's the buy-in?"

"Officially, twenty grand, but realistically you want eighty if you want to have a decent game," he said and chuckled lightly while Marie gaped at him in shock. "Perhaps you'll take pity on me and we can settle the wager tomorrow? I would like to get in there before we leave."

"I'm sure we can figure something out," Marie said, sounding as stunned as she looked. "_Eighty_ grand? Eighty?"

"Oui," Remy said with a grin. "It's a guilty pleasure. I tend to lose more than I win in Bobby's Room, but I'm playing against people who almost live in there. It's like the ultimate poker challenge, trying to beat these guys."

He was going to make a comment about always being able to steal more money, but the look on Marie's face suggested that was probably not the wisest sentiment to voice at the moment. He made a mental note to look up the average salary for people in aerospace engineering jobs.

"I'm sure it is," Marie said.

"Some experiences are worth more than money," he added and Marie nodded.

"That's a sentiment I'll agree with," she said. "So what's it going to be, Swamp Rat? Me or poker? Bearing in mind, of course, I'll still be here when you get back and you'll still be able to snuggle with me in the morning."

Remy smiled and kissed her softly. Marie could practically see the cogs turning in his head, trying to decide which course of action would bring him greatest benefit.

"I think I'm might hit the casino for a bit," he said finally. "You want to come with?"

"Nah," Marie replied. "I think I might have a long, relaxing bubble bath instead. I'm sure I'll see the casino tomorrow."

"Now there's a nice visual to leave on," Remy said, giving her a wink.

Marie pulled a face at him. Remy chuckled, kissed her lips once more and finally departed. Marie snickered to herself and pulled out her phone to send a text message to Jackie:

_You were right! He ditched me to play poker._

She giggled to herself as she put her phone back down, and then departed for the "Hers" bathroom to have her bubble bath. Marie was in there for three-quarters of an hour, quite easily, and when she came out, there was a reply from Jackie waiting on her phone:

_Bwahahahahaha!_

* * *

><p>Remy was fast asleep when Marie woke up the following morning. She contemplated getting up, but he really seemed to enjoy his early morning snuggle with her and she really wasn't bothered getting up. So she rolled over and watched him sleep. She quickly got bored of this, however, and wondered just what the attraction was supposed to be in watching someone sleep. He was just lying there with his eyes closed. It wasn't like he was doing anything like drooling, which she could tease him about later.<p>

He rolled onto his side away from her, and Marie's eyes ran over his broad bare shoulders and the upper part of his back where the bed covers had slipped down. There was a moment's hesitation, and then Marie lifted her hand slowly, and gently ran her fingers over his skin.

Marie loved skin. She loved the feel of it, the texture, and in Remy's case she loved the feel of the hard muscle beneath it. Moments like this she could pretend this was how it should be. If she didn't look at his face or hear his voice, she could fool herself into believing the Cure was permanent, and she was in bed with _her_ man and touching the love of her life.

Then he sighed and said good morning, and the illusion was shattered.

"Good morning," Marie replied.

She started to move her hand away, but Remy caught it as he turned over to smile at her. She smiled tentatively back at him, and he placed one hand on her waist the same time he put her hand on his chest and moved in towards her.

"Don't stop on my account," he said, his voice low.

Marie stifled a sigh as she focused on his chest. He just had to wake up and ruin the moment, didn't he? She continued the exploration of his skin, more out of obligation than desire now that she'd been reminded that the man in her bed was not hers and could never be.

Remy's fingers got itchy on her waist, and he dipped his hand down to the small of her back. He moved in just that little bit further and cupped her face in his other hand. He held her close and closed his eyes while he enjoyed the feel of her hands on his skin, and the feel of her own skin beneath his fingers.

Then there was a knock at the door, and Remy grumbled internally as the arrival of room service ruined the moment. Reluctantly, he got up and opened up the front door—still in just his boxers, much to Marie's amusement. The attendant brought in the breakfast they'd arranged the night before, without even blinking at Remy's distinct lack of attire. Marie wondered if he was used to it.

The attendant soon departed and Marie sat down with Remy at the table.

"So, I was thinking this morning," Remy said as he uncovered their plates, "that we might go down to the fitness centre. I don't know about you, but I try to hit the gym once a day."

"Ha, I have to," Marie said with a light smirk. "If I'm not in better-than-good shape by summer, I won't survive a whole session in the danger room. And I swear Logan deliberately sets it to a higher difficulty just for my benefit."

"Danger room?" Remy queried.

"Oh, umm," Marie stammered. "Uhh, that's just what we call our, umm, main work out room."

"And it has a difficulty setting?"

"What?" Marie asked. "You've got weight settings on gym equipment right? Well, same for the, umm, danger room. It's like this big obstacle course."

No way was she going to tell a thief that she had access to advanced hologram technology. She wasn't sure how Remy would steal it, but she was sure that if there was a way, he'd find it.

"Sounds interesting," Remy said. "Anyway, after working out, I've got us booked for a couple's massage. After that I was thinking we could look at the gallery, have lunch, and then spend the rest of the day in the casino."

"I'm just amazed you want to spend so much of the morning outside of the casino," Marie replied with a smirk, sticking her fork into her eggs.

"I had a few good wins last night," he replied with a slight smile. "And I booked the fitness passes and the massages in advance."

"That'll work."

"Anyway, tonight I'll be good and stay with you after dinner," Remy went on, giving her a wink.

"Aww, how sweet."

* * *

><p>Remy and Marie took their time going down to the fitness centre. Once there, Remy was certain to position himself so that he had the best view of Marie in between (or during) exercises. He already enjoyed looking at her lovely toned body. He liked it better when she was getting hot and sweaty. If Marie noticed his attention, she didn't give him any indication. He did catch her looking in his direction a few times and he hoped that she was eyeing him off as well.<p>

Marie was admiring Remy, but not exactly for the reason Remy was hoping for. She was actually rather impressed that someone twenty years her senior, who had been a smoker for twenty-six years, was actually able to keep up with her.

After their workout, they headed for the showers and spent some time cooling off before their massage. As she had both times Remy had taken her and Jackie to the day spa, Marie chose to remain in her bikini. Remy followed suit, despite his preference for naked massages and the fact that she wouldn't have seen anything through the towel anyway.

When they were done, they headed back to their hotel room to change into ordinary clothes and put away the extra clothing they really didn't need to carry around with them. They headed to the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, then to the casino, as it was far too early for lunch.

Naturally, Remy headed right for the poker room. Marie followed and played a couple of rounds, but ultimately left the table. She just wasn't good enough at the game to be comfortable playing at the stakes offered. Marie went back into the main part of the casino and entertained herself with the other games until she'd used up all her chips. Much to her surprise, she did actually win a few rounds of blackjack.

Since they ultimately ended up skipping lunch, they had an early dinner, and then spend some time in the botanical gardens at the hotel. They watched the fountain display again, and finally returned to their room.

"You need to change into your bikini again," Remy said when they arrived.

"I do?" Marie asked as their door shut. "We going swimming are we?"

"Maybe after. I just want to do something different tonight, and since you don't want me to see you naked," he said and hurried on quickly as Marie's eyes narrow suspiciously, "we should probably wear something easy to wash."

"And all of a sudden, I'm worried," Marie said, not moving from her spot.

"What?" Remy asked, spreading his hands. "I just want to do something to spice up our...sex life that isn't much of a sex life 'cause we're not even having sex."

"Yeah, there's a reason for that, Swamp Rat."

"I know. Really. But that doesn't mean we can't make what we do do more interesting," Remy said. "I promise, it's within the bounds of our agreement."

Finally Marie nodded. Without a word she departed to change.

Relieved, Remy changed as well, pulled a little something out of the minifridge that he'd put there earlier. He stretched out on the bed and waited for Marie's return.

Just when Remy was starting to wonder if he'd scared her off or something, Marie returned to the bedroom, looking sexy as she always did. He smiled at her and patted the bed beside him.

"So, umm," Marie said as she walked around to her side of the bed and climbed up. "What exactly are we doing?"

Remy reached over the side of the bed with the smallest, but most delighted of smiles on his face. Marie's eyes widened as he lifted up a can of whipped cream. Her eyes darted between Remy and the can.

"Umm, you..." she stammered uncertainly.

"We did agree," Remy said patiently, as if he had been half expecting her to protest, "that licking was a form of touching."

"I knew it," Marie said. "I knew agreeing to that was going to bite me on the ass sooner or later."

Remy chuckled softly and opened up the can.

"We don't have to if you really don't want to, chère," he said. "But I hope you'll humour me, just this one time? Never know. You might decide you like it."

Marie was silent while she mentally debated with herself. On the one hand, licking—with or without food involved—was just that little bit more intimate than she was prepared to deal with. On the other hand, they'd already had their hands all over each other and been French kissing, so was it really that big a deal?

"So?" Remy asked, taking the liberty of shaking up the can.

Marie's eyes were on the can, and then onto Remy's bare chest. The perverse and curious sides of her started to wonder just what his skin would feel like beneath her tongue, and what his tongue would feel like on her skin. She tried to tell herself she was being silly; she already knew what such things felt like—after all, she had slept with Bobby and they had licked each other (amongst other things).

But that was years ago now.

And Remy had way more experience with this stuff than Bobby did.

"Okay," she said, hoping he wouldn't notice that she may have been the teensiest little bit excited by the idea.

"Bon," Remy replied sounding well pleased, and promptly began taking to his chest with the whipped cream

Marie tied her hair back in a bun and watched as he sprayed dots on his nipples, then a line from between his nipples to his navel, and finally a semicircle across his stomach. Marie giggled when she realised he'd just drawn a smiley-face on his torso. Remy grinned at her and put the can on the bedside table.

"I'm all yours, chère," he said grandiosely.

"If only that were true," Marie replied dryly.

Because she leaned over as she said that, and focused on the cream mouth, she didn't see his eyes light up. Her tongue dipped out and she slowly began to lick up the cream over his stomach, more interested in making skin contact than the cream. After licking up the mouth, Marie moved into the nose and realised that there was a bit missing. She must have wiped some off when she was licking up the mouth.

She definitely liked the feel of his skin on her tongue. Normally there was a line of hair underneath his navel, but its absence suggested that Remy had shaved it off in preparation.

When she finished licking up the nose, she moved onto the first 'eye' on his right nipple and felt a blush rise to her face as she did so. It wasn't like she hadn't seen and touched a man's nipple before, but she sure hadn't sucked cream off one. She lifted her head to move onto the other nipple, then realised she hadn't gotten all of it, and ran her tongue around it to get the last of the cream. She repeated this with the left nipple, the blush dropping as quickly as it rose, and finally sat up.

"How was that?" she asked, not entirely willing to look Remy in the eye at that moment.

"Good," Remy replied, and then gestured towards her left breast. "Can I lick that off?"

"Huh?" Marie said, then looked down and found the cream she'd accidentally wiped off the nose earlier. "Absolutely not, Swamp Rat."

"Damn," Remy said, snapping his fingers, but he did enjoy watching Marie wipe up the cream with her finger and suck it off. "My turn."

"Right," Marie said, feeling just a little bit awkward as Remy passed her the can of whipped cream.

She laid down, hesitated for a moment, then drew a smiley face on her own stomach; a couple of dots just under the ribcage for the eyes, a circle around her navel for a nose, and an arc below that for the mouth. Remy chuckled as Marie put the can aside.

Marie closed her eyes as Remy began oh-so-slowly licking up the cream. First the eyes, and then the mouth, and finally the navel. His tongue flickered across her skin and darted in and out of her belly button. Marie's breath came out ragged; she had no idea it could feel this good.

"You like that, chère?" Remy asked, lifting his head and noting the flushed expression on her face.

"Uh huh."

Remy grinned, picked up the can of whipped cream off her bedside table and put it into her hand. "Now you spray me anywhere you feel like licking. And I do mean '_any_where'."

Marie sat up as Remy laid back down, and considered him thoughtfully. She realised that Remy's 'anywhere' comment was just him being a pervert, but for her, it was an invitation to experiment with licking different parts of the body. She sprayed a ring around his navel, deciding she wanted to try on him what he did to her (a part of her wondered if she really wanted to risk turning him on as he had her, but realised it was probably too late for that). She sprayed his nipples and the skin surrounding them, deciding she wanted the texture comparison. She considered further, then sprayed his collar bone and a line over each of his upper arms. She would have liked to have sprayed his neck as well, but figured the cream would just fall onto the bed instead. Remy seemed amused at her choices, but said nothing.

Marie put the can onto Remy's bedside table, then looked back at all the cream and contemplated where to begin, and finally settled on his navel. She licked up the cream, trying the tongue-flicking thing he had done on her, and ended up getting some on her nose. She dipped her tongue into his belly-button too; judging from the intake of breath, he seemed to like it, but Marie didn't find it particularly appealing.

Much to Remy's delight, Marie straddled him to lick his chest. She started with the right side, first licking across the smooth skin, then onto the lightly wrinkled skin of his hardened nipple. Marie decided as she ran her tongue over each flat and crease that she could definite develop a liking for nipples. Unwittingly, as she began the chest-and-nipple comparison on his left side, Marie's mind went south, thinking about another part of the male body that had some interesting texture. Marie kept these thoughts very much to herself as she licked up the cream off Remy's left nipple and surrounding area. Remy wouldn't have a problem with her going there, but she did.

Marie sat up, and looked over the remaining cream on his arms and collar bone. She leaned over again and ran her tongue along the cream on his left arm. The mix of contours and hard muscle was thoroughly enjoyable, Marie decided. She moved onto his left collar bone, and then his right. They were okay, but Marie had a feeling Ryan's would be more fun, being more defined. On the other hand, she thought as she licked up the last of the cream (thank goodness) off Remy's right arm, Ryan didn't have Remy's muscle development (actually he had very little muscle development), and Marie definitely preferred muscle over boniness; another thought she was going to keep very much to herself.

"I think that's enough cream for me," Marie said as she sat up and climbed off Remy.

"Hmm," Remy said, grabbing the can. "All the more for me then. And I must say, ma chère, I really love your tongue. You can lick me any time."

Marie smiled as she laid back down on the bed. "I'm sure of that."

Remy grinned at her and contemplated his own targets: since she had to him, Remy sprayed her collarbones. The look on Marie's face suggested that she hadn't considered this possibility, but she said nothing. Remy drew an X on her stomach, then sprayed down both her legs from ankle to mid thigh. On her left leg near the top, there was a bit too much cream, and it slipped down the inside of her leg.

"Whoops," Remy said as Marie frowned. "I guess I'll just have to lick that up."

Remy started on her right leg at the top of the line and may have accidentally-on-purpose licked cream-free parts of her inner thigh under the guise of licking the cream off the top. He had sprayed the cream just high enough to know he was in 'sensitive skin' territory, but not so close to her lady parts that he thought she would object. She didn't. He licked down her leg, taking his time and paying attention to each detail. When he was done with her right leg, he moved onto her left, starting with the ankle.

Marie felt like Remy was taking her left leg even slower than the right. She was all too aware of the fallen cream and was both dreading and excited about Remy getting there, the wetness between her legs testament to that. When Remy finally reached that all-too-small patch of skin, his tongue moved so delicately over it, that although he could have just licked it up in one fell swoop, it was instead drawn out and Marie found herself clutching the sheets.

Remy slid himself north when he was done, keeping one leg between hers. He licked up the cross on her stomach quickly, then continued up until his mouth was inline with the cream on her collarbone. Marie's eyes were closed, but her breathing was heavy and her face was flushed. He allowed himself a slight smile at his success, and started licking up the cream as he had with her legs: slowly with attention to detail.

It was driving him crazy being so close to her breasts and unable to touch them. Whipped cream always went best with breast in his opinion (especially when it was cold and thus could make instant hard nipples).

When all the cream was gone, he kissed her back along her collar bone, then up her neck to her lips. Marie kissed him back soundly, wrapping her arms tightly around him. His pelvis rocked against her leg and his hand ran over the skin within reach that his upper body wasn't already rubbing against. His hand flirted with her breasts: always coming close, but never breaching the boundary that had been laid.

Marie lifted his head and turned it slight to the side so she could lick his neck; she didn't need cream for that. Remy gripped her tight as she licked and kissed him from earlobe to collar bone. He went wild with delight when she half moaned, half gasped as he did the same to her in turn, adding a few light nips.

His lips met hers once more and as he kissed her, he reached across and grabbed the can of whipped cream off her bedside table. He shook the can, shifted his upper body off hers and, unable to take it any longer, blindly sprayed the whipped cream all over her chest; skin and bikini top alike. The can was flipped onto the floor when he was done, and in a fluid motion, Remy moved his tongue from her mouth to her breast.

He licked up the cream from the right side of her bikini, sucking a little when his tongue felt her nipple through her top. Then he moved onto the skin, feeling Marie heave underneath him as he lapped up the cream, and ever-so-slowly made his way across to the left side. Only when he'd licked up all the cream on her skin, did he tend to the left cup. He took his time, thrilled that Marie had let him do this, and circled his way around until he found her nipple, and sucked once more.

"Did you get all of it?" Marie asked, her voice coming out breathlessly.

"Looks like it," Remy replied, lifting his head.

"Good."

And without a moment to think, Marie's fist slammed into Remy's face.

"How dare you touch me like that!" she yelled at him, her eyes blazing with anger as Remy lifted his hand to rub his face. "I've told you time and time again—"

She got no further than that. Remy's hands cupped her face and he kissed her soundly with such fervour that Marie was rendered breathless. Abruptly she came back to her senses and pushed him off.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Marie demanded, getting off the bed and glaring at him. "In what world is a kiss an apology for touching me in places I've expressly told you not to? How many times do I have to tell you not to touch my boobs before you get the damn idea?"

"Désolé, chère," Remy said, swallowing and forcing himself to look at her face and not on her chest. "I couldn't help myself—"

"Couldn't help yourself!" Marie exploded, throwing the words back at him. "If you ever, _ever_ touch me inappropriately again, I will cut the offending limb off! I will cut it off, and chop it up into little pieces so they can't reattach it again! How dare you violate me like this?"

Remy winced.

"And it's not like I haven't been holding up my end of the bargain, either. I told you at the beginning these," Marie said, gesturing to her chest, "are a no-go zone. Yet, you have touched me twice before now, _and_ even though I told you tonight, only a few minutes ago, that you couldn't put your mouth there, you still creamed all over my chest and did it anyway!"

For a very brief moment, a flash of amusement crossed Remy's face. He covered it up again quickly, but not fast enough for Marie to miss it.

"What the hell is so funny?"

Remy coughed uncomfortably. "Nothing."

Marie crossed her arms and glared at him.

"Ahem," Remy said awkwardly. "It's stupid really—not what you're saying, I mean. You're right, I shouldn't have gone there and—"

"What. Is. So. Damned. Funny."

Remy ran his hand through his hair and studiously avoided her gaze. "You said I creamed all over your chest."

It took Marie a moment to process this comment. Her eyes widened when she realised what he meant.

"You filthy, disgusting, Swamp Rat!" she yelled at him, grabbing the can of whipped cream off the floor and throwing it at his head (he ducked). "This is not a laughing matter. It sure as hell isn't a time for stupid jokes and sexual innuendo! I, at least, have been trying to hold up my end of the bargain. But you! You violated me, violated our agreement, and you _make jokes_?"

She shook her head and started stalking off towards the bathroom. "You disgust me."

Marie slammed the door behind her and headed straight for her shower. As the water began to run, Marie burst into tears. Remy wasn't the only one who disgusted her. _She_ disgusted her. She allowed her bikini to have a rinse before pulling it off, all the while thinking about how much she had enjoyed having Remy's mouth on her chest (amongst other places), and how much she wanted him to do it again.

* * *

><p>Remy wasn't in the bedroom when Marie went back to bed after her shower. She had, however, heard the sound of the shower in the "His" bathroom running when she went by and figured that's what he was doing. Marie found her nightclothes, changed and curled up under the covers on her side of the bed. She willed herself to fall asleep before Remy returned.<p>

It was not to be. Remy came out only a couple of minutes later and laid down on the bed next to her above the covers.

"Marie?" he inquired softly.

Marie didn't answer.

"Look," he said. "I know you're mad, and you have every right to be. Can't we work this out?"

Still Marie didn't respond. Remy stifled a sigh.

"Marie, I am really, really sorry," he said sincerely, looking down at her earnestly, hoping to catch her eye, even though she was facing away from him. "You're right, you have told me repeatedly, and there's no excuse for what I did tonight. I just... I just want to be close to you."

For a moment Remy thought Marie was going to continue giving him the silent treatment, when she came out with: "You're married. How close do you think we're going to get?"

"Not that close, apparently," Remy replied with bitterness in his voice. "Please, Marie, you have to believe me, I've never crossed that line before—"

"You're not used to being with a woman who tells you 'no', you mean," Marie said snidely.

"Believe it or not, Marie, you're not the first woman to reject me because I'm married!" Remy snapped at her, took a moment to control his own display of temper, and continued: "I just... I realise you're probably in no mood to accept my apology right now, and I know there's nothing I can ever do that will ever make up for, umm, for violating you tonight. But there might be something I can do to at least make up for violating our agreement."

Once again, Marie didn't respond.

"I was thinking," Remy said slowly, hoping that the lack of response on Marie's end meant that she was open to the idea, "that you could penalise me in some way. Whatever penalty you see fit—short of the dismembering of limbs—I will agree to."

Slowly Marie rolled over to look at Remy.

"You want me to punish you?" she said slowly.

"I realise in the bedroom, that has some certain connotations," Remy said, with a perfectly straight face. "That's kind of why I used 'penalise' instead of 'punish', so that you knew I was trying to be serious and not, umm, kinky. Plus penalty tends to get used in contracts, so I thought it was more appropriate."

Marie paused. "Right."

"Anyway, you don't have to decide right now," Remy said, when nothing else was said immediately. "But, I would really like to work this out before we go back to New Orleans. I, umm, don't really want Jackie to know we're been fighting, and you know how observant she is."

Marie nodded slowly. Remy hated himself just a bit for using his daughter like that, but he knew that Marie didn't want them fighting, and he also knew that Marie was well aware of just how hyper-on-alert Jackie was about their relationship. He did hate fighting with Jackie, though, so the point was still valid.

Remy lifted the covers and started to get into bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Marie asked, glaring at him.

"Umm, going to bed?" Remy replied.

"Not here you're not."

"Excuse me?"

"You can go sleep on the couch," Marie said firmly.

Remy froze and stared at her. It was then that Marie got her flash of inspiration.

"And you can just forget about your first-thing-in-the-morning snuggle," she went on. "You're not touching me until I get out of this bed tomorrow morning when room service arrives."

"But I—"

"Hey, you said I could penalise you," Marie said. "This is it."

The look of utter dismay and devastation on Remy's face was completely worth every tear she had cried. She almost expected him to throw himself on the floor and beg "No! Anything but that!"

"May I have a kiss good night?" he asked, sounding a little pathetic.

"No," Marie replied shortly.

Remy swallowed hard.

"Okay," he said meekly.

He got off the bed and headed into the living room like a dog with his tail between his legs.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Marie opened her eyes the next morning to find the other half of the bed empty, and it felt strange. The only time she ever slept in a bed for two was when she was sharing with Remy, and for him not to be there when she woke up was... Well, it had never happened before now.

"Morning."

Marie lifted her head and spotted Remy leaning against the wall, playing with a deck of cards.

"Morning," she said. "How long have you been there?"

He gave a half shrug. "Not long."

Marie sat up and looked at the clock on the bedside table. Room service would be here soon.

"Sleep well?" she asked.

"Not really," he replied, sounding a little forlorn.

"Oh good."

Perhaps it was a little mean to rub it in like that, but if anything just being sent to sleep on the couch was getting off lightly, Marie decided. Regardless of the fact that she had enjoyed it, he still defied her wishes. Still, Marie had a sneaking suspicion that denying Remy the chance to wake up next to her and cuddle for awhile was probably the worst punishment she could come up with. For some reason he particularly valued being able to do that, even if she didn't really understand why it was so important to him. Marie wondered if Remy had actually expected her to pick a penalty he would actually consider a punishment.

Remy didn't reply to her jibe, and Marie didn't get out of bed until the call for room service came. It was only when Remy turned to answer the door and let the attendant in that Marie got out of bed. She wrapped her robe around her and joined Remy in the living room.

When the attendant departed, Marie was about to sit down at the table when Remy grabbed her arms, hauled her into him and kissed her firmly. Marie was too surprised to object, and by the time she recovered, Remy had already pulled away.

"We okay now?" he asked quietly.

"Remy, you touched me where I asked you not to, repeatedly," Marie replied, looking him straight in the eye. "That's not okay. It's never going to be 'okay', and I'm not feeling particularly inclined to forgive you."

"But I thought—"

"You said the penalty was just for the violation of our agreement," Marie said.

Remy looked deflated. "Oui, I did."

"The penalty for violating my person, is a wedge in this thing we're calling a relationship," she went on, and Remy winced. "It's going to take time for me to forgive you—maybe I never will—and there's nothing you can do or say that will speed up the process."

"I really am sorry, chère," he said.

Marie turned away from him. "Let's just have breakfast."

Breakfast was not a pleasant affair. Despite the delicious food, the atmosphere was so tense they could have cut it with a knife.

"So," said Marie towards the end of the meal, coffee in hand. "What's the plan for today?"

Remy was silent for a moment, and didn't look at her.

"Were you in the mood to be romantic?" he asked finally.

"Not really, no," Marie replied shortly.

"Then my original plans are moot," Remy said, not even bothering to hide the bitterness in his voice. "Do whatever you want. Personally, I'm going to hit Bobby's Room. Which reminds me."

Marie said nothing as Remy got up. He picked up his trench coat and she watched as he pulled a rack of chips from it. He came back to the table and put it down in front of her.

"Count," he told her. "I won our wager last night."

Marie froze. She swallowed hard and slowly put her coffee down. He couldn't have...could he? Tentatively, she started sorting and counting the chips. It almost felt like his victory was being rubbed in when she realised he'd actually gotten closer to five times than four.

"I'm going to need my wallet back," Remy said, when she had finished counting, but hadn't said anything.

"Yeah, sure," Marie said, sound like she was in a daze.

Remy leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head.

"You may have one last complaint about me buying you stuff," he said magnanimously.

Marie was silent for a moment.

"Please tell me you at least know where I'm coming from?" Marie asked.

"You gave me some line about running up debt once," Remy said. "Which is plainly stupid. These are gifts we're talking about, chère. You're supposed to feel touched—erm, I mean...pleasantly surprised and umm, you're supposed to think I'm being sweet and thoughtful. You're not supposed to feel indebted."

"Well it's very nice that you've got it all figured out how I'm _supposed_ to feel," Marie said, glaring back at him, and then gestured to the chips in front of her. "Tell me, Remy, just how many doses of the Cure could I have paid for with the chips you gave me to gamble away on Friday?"

Remy looked at her for a long, thoughtful moment.

"I see your point," he said slowly. "And...I raise you a 'make it redundant'."

"Excuse me?"

"It's simple, Marie," Remy said, leaning forward and looking directly into her wary green eyes. "Money—and other tangible goods—are no longer a commodity between us. I won't accept money from you as payment for the Cure."

Marie's eyes widened with alarm. "But what about after I graduate? I'm moving to New York! We won't be able to date any more and I _hate_ this open relationship crap—"

"Marie, I was never going to accept money from you," Remy said, interrupting her with a wave of his hand. "For one thing, Jackie would kill me if I were to sell the Cure to you at market price, and I never discount—"

"Oh really?" Marie asked sarcastically. "You never offer discounts? This coming from the same guy who chooses to sell the Cure for less than what it's worth because he only sells it to people who can't afford that much?"

"Hey, that's not discounting," Remy objected. "I stole the stuff, I can sell it for whatever mark up I choose, to whoever I choose. And for the record, I stand to make a lot more money long-term by ensuring that only mutants who need it get it. If the wrong people get their hands on this stuff and they might find a way to reproduce it, which would do me out of the market."

Marie muttered something about having an answer for everything.

"Besides, I'm doing you a favour," Remy went on. "You and your X-men friends sound like you're pretty close. Don't you think they might notice if say, you don't have as much spending money as they do? Or what if the Cure starts wearing off before you have enough money and they find out?"

"I'm a grown woman. They're just going to have to get over it," Marie replied stubbornly.

"Oh yeah? If you're so convinced they'll just 'get over it', why haven't you told them already?"

Marie didn't reply.

"And let's face it, chère," Remy said, more gently now as he gestured to the rack of chips on the table. "Does it really look like I need your money?"

Marie looked at the chips like they were her mortal enemy.

"So what do you want?" she asked finally, not looking at him. "When I graduate, and move to a whole other state, what will you want of me?"

Remy sighed. "I hadn't decided yet. I was thinking maybe we could go on vacation together once a year. You could just tell your friends that you're catching up with a friend of yours in New Orleans, so that wouldn't be lying—we are friends...right?"

There was a moment's hesitation, then Marie nodded slowly.

"Right, so I can give you your dose then, and we can go somewhere together for a couple of weeks. During the summer, I guess. I know you've been getting your dose in April, but you've said so yourself, you have been getting it early. We could give it to you in May this year, and make it June next year. You should be fine."

"For how long?" Marie asked. "Just how much of this stuff do you have, Remy?"

"Trust me, I have enough to keep you powerless for years," Remy replied. "I'll let you know when I start to get low."

"Must have been some batch, you stole," Marie said.

"Well, I stole other batches as well, from other people who had the same idea."

Marie chuckled. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

"Hey, it's bad enough this stuff got created in the first place," Remy said. "Worthington was naive if he actually believed this would solve anything."

"It helped me," Marie said quietly.

"Oui," Remy said. "But the benefits to the few who are actually hindered by their mutations doesn't measure up against the number of mutants who were Cured without their consent, or mutants who were pressured into it because their friends and family were a bunch of losers. Let alone the number of mutants who were murdered despite being recently Cured."

"What about terrorists? Like Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants?" Marie asked.

Remy snorted. "Fat lot of good that did. The Cure wore off them, didn't it? Besides, the Brotherhood is just a symptom of the real problem."

"Which is?"

"People hate change. It means they have to get out of their comfort zone."

"Not all change is good."

"It's not all bad either," Remy said.

"If you hate the Cure so much, why sell it at all?" Marie asked. "Why not just destroy it?"

"What do I look like?" Remy asked. "The Caped Crusader? Regardless of why the Cure was created, it was still created, and far be it for me not to turn it to my advantage. Which, in most cases, comes in the form of cold, hard cash. Actually it's more like green, floppy cash, but you get the idea."

"You know, for someone who's so interested in money—" Marie began.

"I'm not really," Remy cut in. "I'm more interested in the things you can do when you have money."

"Like gamble it away?"

"See? Now you're getting it," Remy said with a grin. "Marie, seriously, you are a strong, intelligent, amazing young woman, and spending time with you means more to me than any sum of money."

"Mmmhmm, and what about annoying your wife?" Marie asked pointedly.

Remy got up from his seat and sat down next to Marie. He lifted his hand to cup her face and stoked her cheek gently with his thumb.

"I find I really don't care what she thinks any more," he replied.

And without another word, he kissed Marie tenderly. Remy was relieved when she kissed him back. He had been a little afraid that when she rejected him this morning that it was over, regardless of the terms of their agreement. Though, the scared look on her face when he said he didn't want money from her worried him a great deal.

Marie didn't meet Remy's eyes has he pulled back from the kiss.

"Marie," he said firmly, lifting her chin so she was forced to look at him. "The vacation thing isn't locked in stone. We can figure things out when the time come. I just want you to know that whatever happens, I'm not going to ask you for sex, okay?"

"Unless of course, you happen to be drunk," Marie retorted.

"That goes without saying. I always want to get laid when I'm drunk."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me."

* * *

><p>As they had the day before, Marie and Remy went to the fitness centre, and then parted ways. Marie was rather relieved to have the time alone. She was still trying to come to terms with everything. She wasn't really sure what she felt about Remy any more. Being romantically involved with a married man was wrong when he wasn't married to her, of this point she was adamant. Unfortunately, that principle was the only thing curbing her response with him. She was finding, much to her dismay, that she was no longer feeling guilty about it. She wasn't even feeling guilty about not feeling guilty. Had she been pushing her guilt aside for so long, she had become numb to it? Or was it something else?<p>

He had worked her up pretty good last night. She had been so caught up in the moment, she hadn't even registered what he was doing until he was halfway through. The memory replayed across her skin, and she hated that she wanted it to happen again for real.

Maybe she was wrong holding the grudge. She probably sent him mixed signals last night—Marie shook the thought off. No, there were no 'mixed signals', there was a flat out 'no' and denial of permission.

Still, she wished that this desire to be touched there by him again would go away. A big part of her desperately wanted to know what it would be like to have him touch her sensitive skin without her top in the way. The last person to touch her breasts—with permission—had been Bobby. Marie smiled at the memory. In hindsight, she may have gone a little crazy when she first got the Cure, but she didn't regret it, not for a second.

Funny, she thought she'd gotten past that initial craving to touch and be touched.

* * *

><p>"So, how was Vegas?" Jackie asked as Marie and Remy walked up to her at the airport, bags in hand.<p>

"Not too bad," Marie replied. "Considering we spent most of the time in the hotel."

"Heh, yeah," said Jackie. "Some of those hotels are bigger tourist attractions than the tourist attractions. Wait, you did mean the hotel in general, and not the hotel room, right?"

Marie pointed at Remy with her thumb. "Right, we stayed in the hotel room for the entire weekend while there was a casino nearby."

Jackie chuckled wickedly and grinned at her father while she led them to her car. "Good point."

"Hey, I actually won something in Bobby's Room this time," said Remy. "I'd say that's a pretty good use of my time."

"I hope you weren't too bored," Jackie said, grinning at Marie.

"A little," Marie said. "But I found me a bookshop and bought that Rowan book Carole suggested I read. And now I'm a little annoyed I didn't buy _Damia_ as well, because I liked _The Rowan,_but I finished it on the plane on the way here."

"I'm glad you didn't," said Remy. "Meant you couldn't ignore me the entire trip."

"Papa, you had her for a whole weekend," Jackie pointed out with a sly grin. "If you chose to waste that time by playing poker, that's not Marie's fault."

"I don't think that beating world champion poker players at their own game constitutes a waste of time," Remy insisted.

"You know, Jackie," Marie said as they walked through the automatic doors to the car park, "I think we've solved the mystery of who cheated first."

"There is no mystery," Remy insisted. "It was Belle."

"Oh yeah?" Jackie asked Marie, ignoring her father.

"Belle only cheated on Remy with Franco because Remy was cheating on her with poker."

Jackie laughed.

"You know, now that you mention it, I don't know why Maman never complained about walking in on Papa cheating on her with poker before," Jackie said gleefully. "You think she would have noticed the massive orgy with five kings, four queens and four jacks. Oooh, those queens would have been lucky: two guys to one girl. I like them odds."

"Well, unless they were drag queens," Marie said.

Jackie laughed as she weaved through the cars to her own. "This is true! And it only adds to my theory that Papa's a closet homosexual."

"That's some closet," Remy said dryly.

"Oui, and it has lots of pink clothes in it," Jackie said, grinning at him.

"Only real men wear pink," Remy said. "I was wearing pink before it was cool for men to wear pink."

"It's cool for men to wear pink?" Jackie asked Marie.

Marie shrugged. "Your dad's that old, it's possible that it was cool once. You know how fashions come and go."

"You deux are a riot," Remy said dryly.

Marie laughed, and because Jackie's back was turned, leaned up and kissed his cheek.

"You know we're just teasing," she said.

"I do," Remy replied. "But it's a good thing I'm perfectly secure in my sexuality, no? Note, Jackie would never tease her mère about being a lesbian."

"I tried that once," Jackie said merrily, hitting the button on her remote and unlocking her car. "She decided it was a good day for me to make my first attempt at the Épreuve de Douleur."

Remy laughed.

"The what?" Marie asked as she opened up the door.

"The Épreuve de Douleur," Jackie said, opening the boot. "It's a pain tolerance trial all the Assassins have to endure. It sucks balls."

"I did that once," Remy said while he loaded up their bags in the boot.

"You did?" Jackie asked, interested. "When?"

"Oh you were only five or something at the time," Remy said.

"Fair enough. How'd you do?"

"Oh I passed it the first time," Remy said smugly. "Level ten rating."

Jackie stared at her father in shock. Marie looked between them.

"I'm guessing that's high?" Marie asked.

"High?" Jackie said, still gaping at Remy. "Ten is practically unheard of."

"Not true," Remy said, shutting the boot firmly. "I know of at least sixteen others who have the level ten rating, including your mère."

"Well, yeah, but you're a Thief, Papa," said Jackie. "Why'd you even do it in the first place? You didn't have to."

"Proving a point," Remy said. "Incidentally, the Assassins in the council have never given me any problems since."

"Meh," Jackie grumbled as she, Remy and Marie all got into the car. "I've only got an eight."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Remy said. "Belle didn't get her level ten until after she had you. Actually, most of the others who have a ten rating are femmes, and now that I think about it, I think they've all got kids too."

"Huh," Jackie said. She started the car and then grinned at Remy in the rear vision mirror. "I wonder how high your rating would be if you could give birth."

"I don't need to," Remy said. "I had brain surgery without anaesthetic."

Marie turned around in the front passenger seat to stare at Remy. "You're joking?"

"Non," Remy replied, shaking his head. "One of the perks of being experimented on."

"But...no anaesthetic?"

"They wanted to know how my powers worked," Remy said grimly. "A sedative would have dulled my reactions."

Marie turned back to the front and looked out the window.

"I want to say I'm shocked that people would be so cruel," she said. "It depresses me that I'm not surprised."

"It was a long time ago," Remy said with a shrug. "And you know what they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"By that logic, you must be immortal, Papa," Jackie said.

Remy laughed.

* * *

><p>The following Tuesday, Cassie knocked on Remy's office door and then let herself in, a bundle of reports. Remy was lying on the floor with his laptop in front of him.<p>

"Decided to lie on the floor again, hmm?" Cassie asked.

"The floor just doesn't get enough love," Remy replied cheerfully.

"Uh huh, so how long before you decide it's too uncomfortable and go back to your desk this time?" Cassie drawled, placing the additional reports beside him.

Remy just chuckled knowingly.

* * *

><p>Shortly before the end of winter break, Ryan returned from his home in inland Louisiana. On his second night back, he and Marie went out on a date that ended with Marie inviting Ryan back to her room.<p>

"Jackie's staying with her mama tonight," Marie informed him. "So at least we don't have to worry about being interrupted."

"Oh good," said Ryan, right before he kissed her.

Ryan was no longer quite the tentative lover he had been in the beginning. He grew more confident once he knew what worked and what didn't. They'd been taking things slowly, and Marie was happy with this. She'd jumped in head first with Bobby, and had taken no time to really savour anything. Remy knew exactly what he wanted and went for it as far as Marie would let him (or further, as demonstrated during their trip to Las Vegas). She'd taken things slowly with Brett too, but they'd never really gotten very far. She and Ryan on the other hand, had been taking the time to get to know each other and their bodies, and Marie was enjoying the exploration.

As they made out on Marie's single bed, Ryan carefully lifted up Marie's shirt to her ribcage. He was always very careful not to even touch her bra, and the one time he did, he apologised immediately and moved his hand back down. That had certainly been a nice change from Remy, who probably never would have even considered the idea. Today, Marie decided, Ryan's courtesy would be rewarded.

"Ryan?" Marie said between kisses.

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to..." Marie hesitated, not entirely certain how to phrase this. He never presumed that she would want him to touch her, and she wouldn't presume that he was ready to go that far either, regardless of what society's opinion of men and sex was.

"To what?"

Marie licked her lips and looked at his bare chest.

"I was just thinking," she said cautiously. "I don't think it's fair that only one of us is topless."

The look on Ryan's face told her he wasn't sure what the appropriate response was supposed to be. "Uhh, if you want me to put my shirt back on..."

Marie laughed and kissed his nose. There were times when she lamented comparing Ryan and Remy, but on this occasion the comparison came out in Ryan's favour. She'd take his courtesy and his inexperience over Remy's presumption and experience any day.

"Would you like to touch my boobs?" she asked.

Ryan swallowed and just nodded, evidentially not trusting his voice. Marie grinned at him and then lifted her upper body to take off her shirt and bra. Ryan tried not to stare, but gave up, and—still grinning—Marie guided his hands to her chest after she laid back down. She kissed him.

"Go on," she said when Ryan's hands didn't move. "You know you want to."

Slowly Ryan began to explore her breasts with his fingers, taking in how they felt and how they moved. He was incredibly gentle, as if afraid that they might break or something. For now, Marie didn't mind. In fact she savoured his delicate touch, the sensation of skin on skin. There was no substitute for this level of intimacy.

Something a little more aggressive would come later.

* * *

><p>Emil sighed as he sat down next to Remy at the table with a couple of beers.<p>

"Well," he said. "It's finally happened."

Remy put down his glass. "What's finally happened?"

"Sy got someone pregnant," Emil said.

"For real this time?" Remy asked with a slight smirk.

"Yeah," said Emil. "That Assassin fille, Rita. It's a definite. Not a false alarm like that time with Jackie."

Remy chuckled. "I remember that day so well."

"Oh I just bet you do," Emil replied dryly.

"A part of me was trying to deal with the idea that my baby girl was going to be a mère before she turned sixteen, and the other part was laughing at the expression on Belle's face when she found out that Jackie was 90% certain the père was Sy," Remy said, a huge grin on his face. "If there was ever a time I thought Belle was going to have a heart attack, that was it."

"I just don't know what I've done to earn Belle's hatred," Emil said dramatically.

"Nah, you've just deliberately annoyed her every time you've opened your mouth," Remy replied, then added with a smirk: "Gramps."

Emil gave Remy a dour look, then skulled down his first beer. Remy chuckled.

"I don't know what you're so caught up about," Remy said. "Sy and Rita are the ones who have to look after the kid, not you. You get to spoil the kid and smirk at them while they change the dirty diapers."

"I'm too young to be a grand-père," Emil said. "I still have all my hair."

"Emil, Sy's older than you were when he was born," Remy pointed out.

Emil sighed. "Now I know how mon père felt."

Remy laughed.

"Think of it this way," Remy said, grinning at Emil. "At least Sy's the one becoming a parent, and not Caitlyn."

Emil blanched at the thought of his seventeen-year-old daughter getting pregnant. Remy laughed again at the look on his face.

"I am going to remember this when Jackie gets pregnant," Emil said. "For real, that is."

"You seem to think that it's going to bother me," Remy replied with a smirk. "You're the one who has issues with gaining descendants. I don't know why. You should be proud you're making sure that red hair survives another generation."

"Right," Email said dryly, hefting his second beer. "Because I'm so concerned about red hair ceasing to be."

"See? That's what I thought."

"If you so worried, why aren't you knocking up some red-headed chick?" Emil asked, and then he frowned thoughtfully. "Actually who _are_ you seeing lately? The last femme I recall seeing you with is Marie."

"Oh, umm," Remy said, picking up his own beer. "Just Marie at the moment."

Emil regarded Remy curiously while his friend drank his beer. "Seriously? You always have deux or trois mistresses at once."

Remy gave a shrug and put his beer back down. "I haven't picked up anyone else since Silvia died. So, are we sure that the baby is Sy's?"

"Ugh," Emil said with a groan. "That's the worst part! They planned it."

"Really?" Remy asked, surprised. "Why would they do that?"

"I think Rita was being clucky and talked Sy into coming along for the ride," Emil said, looking down into his beer.

"Heh, that's gonna be some ride," Remy said, smirking. "They gonna get hitched?"

"Don't think so. Sy likes sleeping around too much."

"Jackie'll be thrilled."

* * *

><p>Jackie and Marie were headed out of the gym after their workout and sparring session, when Pierre approached them.<p>

"Hi Marie," he said, then looked at Jackie. "Can I have a word?"

"Sure," Jackie replied.

"I'll go on ahead," Marie said.

Pierre waited until Marie had left earshot, and then spoke quietly:

"Look, umm, I don't know if you've spoken to Damo yet, but we're going to have to end our threesome."

"Aww," Jackie replied, batting her eyes at him. "You and Damo decided you were bored using me to kink up your relationship?"

"Uhh, actually we broke up," Pierre admitted unhappily.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Jackie said sincerely, lifting her hand to stroke his cheek sympathetically. "You deux made such a cute couple."

Pierre nodded in his in acknowledgement.

"Anyway," he said. "I just wanted to let you know what was up."

"I appreciate it," Jackie replied, then offered him a wink. "Did you want break up sex?"

Pierre laughed.

"Thanks, but I think I'll pass," he said.

"Okay," Jackie said. "But if you ever change your mind—or if you and your next beau decide to spice things up—call me."

"I'll keep that in mind. Merci Jackie."

"No problem, cher."

* * *

><p>Remy was very careful in making plans for his next date with Marie. It was important to him that she felt comfortable and safe with him. He was quite polite when picking her up, and didn't touch her at all when they went downstairs to the car park. They drove and parked downtown, and when Marie emerged from the car after the initial drive, she noted a horse and carriage nearby. Having expected Remy to direct her to the nearby restaurant, she was quite shocked when Remy led her to the horse and carriage instead.<p>

"You're joking, right?" Marie asked.

"Non," Remy replied.

As the driver 'helped' Marie aboard, Remy hoped this would go as planned. He felt this would fulfil all the necessary requirements: romantic, but in a public place, and at this time of year, warmer clothes were a must. It was, he felt, a complete antithesis of what had occurred in the hotel room in Las Vegas.

"Well now," Marie said once she was settled in the carriage next to Remy. "This is very nice."

"I'm glad you think so," Remy replied, smiling.

"I do," Marie said, smiling back at him as the carriage started off. "I haven't been in a horse-drawn carriage before. It's very cool."

Conversation dissolved, but conversation wasn't really needed. Remy put his arm around Marie's shoulders and that was pretty much the extent of physical contact between them on their tour of the French Quarter.

After their return to the restaurant, it was Marie who took Remy's hand as they headed inside. They enjoyed a pleasant dinner together, and then Remy took Marie back to his place. Marie admitted feeling a little anxious about this. It was going to be their first make out session since Las Vegas and she wasn't really sure how she wanted to handle it.

"Alright," Remy said, gesturing to the lounge. "You have a seat right there, ma chère. I just need a couple of minutes and then I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," Marie replied.

Remy headed upstairs and Marie found herself looking aimlessly around the lounge room. She decided from the absence of a black patch behind the lounge that Remy must have cleaned recently.

Marie lifted her head when she heard water running upstairs and wondered what on earth Remy was doing up there. The water ran for quite some time, and not long after it was turned off, Remy returned.

"Marie?" he said, looking towards her from the stairs.

Marie stood and wandered towards him. "Hey. What were you doing up there?"

"What?" Remy asked. "And ruin the surprise?"

"One thing I have to say about your surprises, Remy," Marie said as she followed him up the stairs, "I can never be sure if I'm going to like it or not."

"I would hope you like all of my surprises," Remy replied, heading towards the bathroom.

"Most of them, yes," Marie said, a slight smirk on her face. "But sometimes you surprise me."

Remy laughed. He opened up the door of the bathroom, and Marie stepped inside to find a bubble bath had been run for her. There were also some scented candles lit and over the rail was a large, fluffy towel and a pair of pajamas. Marie gestured to the pajamas and gave Remy a curious look.

"It's been cold," he said with a shrug. "I thought you might appreciate sleeping in something warmer."

A slow but big smile appeared on Marie's face. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him gently.

"Thank you Remy," she said sincerely and gestured around the room. "This is—all of it—has been really sweet of you. In fact, all night has been really nice."

Remy smiled and kissed her lips very so briefly.

"I'm glad you like it," he said. "I'll let you enjoy your bath."

He departed and Marie shut the door behind him.

* * *

><p>Almost an hour later, Marie finally appeared in Remy's bedroom, all fresh and vanilla-scented after her bath. She was a little surprised to find that Remy wasn't there, and after dropping off her clothes with her bag, she trotted downstairs. Remy looked up from the TV as she came down.<p>

"Hey," he greeted her, lifting his hand to pause whatever was on TV. "Enjoy your bath?"

"I did," Marie replied, noting Remy was in a pair of long pajama pants, rather than a pair of boxer shorts. "Whatcha watching?"

"Buffy," Remy said.

"You watch Buffy?" Marie asked skeptically. "As in vampire slayer?"

"What can I say?" Remy said with a sly smile. "I like watching femmes kick ass."

"Why does this not surprise me?" Marie said dryly.

Remy chuckled and patted the seat next to him. "Care to join me?"

Marie shrugged as she sat down next to him. "Sure, why not?"

Much to Marie's surprise, that was all they did for the rest of the night: watch _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ on DVD. When they did go to bed, it never got any more intimate than a hug and a kiss goodnight. Marie couldn't even fall asleep straight away, she was so convinced that Remy was going to randomly start making out with her. The last time they'd gone an entire date without making out was—Marie tried to think—right at the beginning, before they went to the picnic for that first United Guilds Anniversary.

Marie smiled to herself. She supposed, in his own way, Remy was trying to make up for Las Vegas. It was difficult not to come to that conclusion. The cold hadn't seemed to bother Remy in the past, and for once she wasn't annoyed with him buying things for her. He didn't even bother trying to explain why he wasn't making out for her. Marie sighed. He could be so sweet when he wanted to be, but that was the key word, wasn't it? When he _wanted_ to be.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>

No joke, it's comic canon that Remy likes _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_. He got interrupted in the middle of a marathon of said show in Gambit Annual '99 (Gambit series 3).


	18. Chapter 18

**AN:**

**Medical talk in this chapter.** It doesn't last very long, because I'm the kind of person who goes to hospital and then ends up fainting even though her husband is the patient (Twice!). But in any case, if you rather skip the details, when you get to the word 'colonoscopy' that's your cue to scroll down to the next scene break, okay?

I'm sure that makes the scene in question sound like it's a filler, but even though I used to write fillers in my early years of fanfic writing – before I ever started writing X-men – I don't any more. I think it's because I have a tendency to be inspired by 'throwaway lines' and end up turning them into massive subplots, haha. Nowadays all my scenes have a purpose.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 18<strong>

Marie was not surprised to wake up the next morning with Remy firmly pressed against her and his arm wrapped around her waist. His fingers had slipped in underneath her top and were resting on her stomach. It felt strange to have him so close, yet with so little skin contact between them. She shifted to look at him, and he grumbled at her movement. Marie grinned at him.

"Morning," she said, lifting her hand to touch his chin.

Remy sighed and adjusted his position to maximise cuddling now that Marie was lying on her back rather than her side. His eyes remained closed. Marie smiled and decided to let him enjoy his half-sleep. Besides, she was enjoying running her hand over his stubble.

Eventually, reluctantly, Remy allowed himself to wake up. He didn't move though, far too content to lay there and hold Marie while she caressed his face. She didn't meet his eyes, but she had a thoughtful expression on her face.

"Whatcha thinking about?" he asked once he could persuade himself to speak.

There was a brief pause before Marie replied: "Did you want the truth, or did you want a fluffy answer?"

"Can I have both?"

Marie laughed softly, then her smile faded and she regarded him seriously.

"I'm thinking about how, for all the time we've spent together, I don't really know you," she said, and he frowned as she continued: "Sometimes it feels like everything you say and do with him are completely preplanned, like you've anticipated every possible outcome, or there's always some ulterior motive. And you know the craziest thing?"

"What's that?" Remy asked.

"I like it," Marie said ruefully, flicking a lock of hair out of his face. "Well, I don't like feeling like I'm being manipulated, but I do like getting to know this complicated person before me. Okay, that probably sounds silly, because we're all complicated people, and I've been enjoying getting to know others too, but see, my friends with the X-men? I've absorbed most of them. I know them without even knowing them very long, and I _like_ the process, the journey of getting to know someone. Even—especially—people I have a hard time trying to figure out."

Remy offered her a faint smile.

"Désolé, chère, I..." he hesitated, trying to find the right words: "I guess ulterior motives are second nature to me."

"And as perverse and masochistic as it sounds," Marie replied, "I'm actually enjoying that, even if it's frustrating at times."

Remy laughed softly and kissed her nose.

"I don't think it's masochistic at all," he told her, smiling affectionately. "I think you're just enjoying the challenge of trying to read someone you're not finding easy to read. You just said so yourself, you like the 'journey' of getting to know someone. I think that's infinitely better than getting to know someone automatically on greeting. You miss out on the adventure and all you're left with is knowing if you push this button you can get this reaction."

Marie's face lit up.

"That's it," she said enthusiastically. "That's it exactly! How could you... Ahh...right, con artist. You specialise in pressing buttons."

Remy grinned at her. "I like getting to know people too, chère, but sometimes it's difficult to separate work life from personal life. At least you can shut your powers off."

Marie's smile faded just a little bit so Remy decided to change the subject:

"And what's the fluffy answer?"

Marie's smile brightened with mischief, and Remy loved it.

"I was thinking about how I love your stubble," she said.

Remy laughed as Marie went back to stroking his chin and jaw.

"It's just the right length at the moment too," she went on merrily. "Just long enough not to be sandpaper, but short enough to not be considered a beard."

"Don't like beards?" he asked.

"They get in the way of your skin," Marie replied. "Ryan is so mean. He refuses to grow even just a little bit of stubble for me to play with. He goes around clean-shaven all the time. It's not like I'm asking him to have stubble permanently, I just want him to humour me, just once. He can always shave it off right after."

Remy chuckled and Marie grinned at him.

"You probably think I'm a completely weirdo," she said.

"Au contraire," Remy replied, taking up her hand in his. "I think you are a connoisseur of touch."

Marie laughed softly.

"I think that you value touch in all its forms," Remy said, winding his fingers in and around hers. "I think that you're sensitive to not only the texture, pressure and place, but also to the nuances expressed when—"

Abruptly, Remy dropped Marie's hand and actually shifted away from her. Barely had Marie a chance to blink, than a gap of six inches had formed between them, and a gravely concerned, even horrified look had appeared on Remy's face.

"Mon dieu," he said, "Forgive me, chère, I fear I've done you a huge injustice."

Marie frowned slightly. He had?

"I don't understand..." she said slowly.

"It never occurred to me how much I was asking from you when I asked you to...to act as my mistress and let me make out with you," Remy said in complete seriousness. "I should have realised that someone who was deprived of human touch might be hypersensitive to it."

Marie blew out a long breath of air, regarded him seriously, then shuffled herself towards him.

"You are aware that I had been powerless for over a year before we met, right?" Marie said, deliberating placing one hand on his chest. "Even if the idea hadn't occurred to you, I knew what touch meant to me. There's a saying, you may have heard of it: You have to spend money to make money."

Remy nodded slowly.

"Look, I'll admit I was kind of scared at first," Marie said ruefully. "I didn't know you, really. I didn't know if I could trust you not to try and go further than I was comfortable with."

Remy looked away, shame-faced. Marie took hold of his chin and turned his head so he was forced to look back at her.

"And I liked it, okay?" Marie admitted, the slightest hint of embarrassment on her face. "I like the way you kiss me, and I like your hands, and I like the way your skin feels, and your stubble, and where the hair grows on your stomach. And I even enjoyed licking you and being licked by you."

"Even though I went too far?" Remy asked quietly.

Marie gave a deflated sigh. "Yeah, even that. But it's not something I'm proud of."

"Because I'm married?"

"Sorry, Remy, but 'married man' is a major turn off for me," Marie said seriously. "It grates at my moral fibre, and as someone who can steal the souls of others with the touch of my finger, I need all the moral fibre I can get."

Remy cracked a smile.

"Can't you just pretend I'm not?" he asked. "I pretend I'm not all the time."

"I'm sure you do, but I don't have a convenient 'off' switch on my conscience."

She refrained from mentioning she hadn't been feeling very guilty lately. The last thing Remy needed was any more encouragement.

Remy cupped Marie's face and stroked her cheek with his thumb. A part of him wondered if through touch he could convey the words he couldn't say to her.

"Well chère," he said, "I cannot do much about your conscience, but if you ever decide you want to experiment with touching, I'd be more than happy to oblige."

"I'm sure of that."

* * *

><p>Over breakfast, Marie had realised the significance of her admission that she had liked Remy 'going too far' in Las Vegas, and made it perfectly clear to him that her enjoyment did not negate the fact that he had touched her without consent in the first place. Remy assured her that the thought hadn't even crossed his mind, he was only relieved that the experience hadn't been completely terrible.<p>

Afterwards, Remy actually regretted learning that. There was a part of him that was immediately factoring in this information with his desire to seduce Marie and the best way to use that knowledge to his advantage. He didn't want to manipulate her, especially not like that, but he couldn't seem to stop his mind from ticking over the possibilities.

While he and Marie hadn't decided on an exact date, Remy knew they wouldn't see each other again for at least three weeks, after Valentine's Day. He wanted—needed—this to be out of his head by then. He decided he'd give himself a week to deal with it on his own, and if that failed, he'd make an appointment with Lady Helena.

* * *

><p>Jackie sat down at the table inbetween Marie and Lauren, and across from Ryan. She raised her eyebrows as she sat down, noting Ryan's lunch of green gelatin.<p>

"Decided to eat healthy today, Ryan?" Jackie asked, unable to resist.

Ryan glowered at her.

"Probably healthier than my lunch yesterday," Lauren said. "I know McDonalds is bad for me, but it tastes so good."

"And that's why you're getting fat," Jackie replied, smirking at her.

"Hey!" Lauren objected. "I'm not fat."

"Noooo," Jackie teased her. "You're just 'big boned'."

"Jackie, leave her alone," Marie said with a frown at her room mate, then looked at Lauren: "You're not fat, sugar."

"Thank you, Marie."

"Okay, and now that we've done placating the weak who can't handle a honest observation—"Jackie began.

"Hey!" Lauren exclaimed.

"—What's with the jello, Ryan?" Jackie asked as if Lauren hadn't interrupted. "Not your usual fare."

"If you must know," Ryan replied tersely. "I have a colonoscopy in a couple of days. I'm only allowed to eat and drink clear foods."

"Wow," said Jackie. "So you're going to let someone shove a camera up your ass? Kinky. I didn't realise you were into that kind of thing."

"Actually since I'm sedated for the camera part, I don't really notice," Ryan replied. "It's the prep beforehand that I hate."

"Yeah? What happens?"

"I have to drink a gallon of laxative."

"Ooookay!" Lauren said. "Trying to eat lunch here! Really not wanting to know."

"I can never drink the whole thing either," Ryan went on. "I usually end up vomiting some of it up too."

"Eww," Lauren said, pulling a face.

"Sounds lovely," Marie said, reaching over and rubbing his arm affectionately. "Anything I can do?"

"Take the prep for me?" Ryan asked with mock-hopefulness.

"I don't think that will help," Marie replied, giving him a smile.

"Yeah, probably not," he said, then shrugged and scooped up another mouthful of the translucent green, wobbly dessert. "Also, Jackie? Only you would use the word 'kinky' in association with a colonoscopy."

Jackie laughed. "Well, you know, some people are into shoving things up the ass."

"Okay," Lauren cut in, pushing her plate away, "if this is doing to descend into a discussion about anal sex, them I'm just going to stop eating."

"Probably do you some good too," Jackie said, smirking at Lauren.

"You are such a bitch."

"I can't understand why anyone would want to have anal," said Ryan. "My gastro sticks a couple of fingers up there to have a look around and make sure everything's okay—"

"Oui," Jackie said mischievously. "Making sure 'everything's okay'."

"Give it a rest, Jackie," Marie said.

"And if that's not painful enough," Ryan went on, throwing Jackie a dirty look, "I end up bleeding in my poo for the rest of the day."

"That's not healthy," Lauren said, turning up her nose.

"You're telling me," Ryan said dryly. "Actually, when I was first being diagnosed, my GP actually asked me if I had anal. Sometimes people who do can get a pubic hair stuck up there and—"

"Not listening!" Lauren declared, covering her ears with her hands. "La la la!"

"Yeah, anal is pretty risky, even with a condom," Jackie said, nodding. "So I never go there."

"Well, it's nice to know there are some things that you won't do," Marie said with a slight smirk at her friend.

"Actually there are plenty of things I won't do," Jackie said. "I like to experiment, but that doesn't mean I want to try asphyxiating myself."

"What does that have to do with sex?" Ryan asked, frowning.

"Some people like 'erotic asphyxiation'," Marie said.

"You're joking, right?" Ryan said.

"Oh how I wish I was."

"Can we please change the subject?" asked Lauren piteously.

"Oh fine," Jackie said with a dramatic, irritable sigh. "Let's talk about kittens and puppies then."

"Much better, thank you."

* * *

><p>Jackie was busy getting ready for her night out, when Marie, who was lying on her bed, closed her book and pushed it aside.<p>

"I don't think I can read any more of this," Marie said.

"What's that?" asked Jackie. "_Damia_?"

"Yeah, _Damia_."

"Why?"

"It's scaring me."

Jackie looked at Marie skeptically. "You're scared of a book?"

Marie rolled over and looked back at Jackie. "Damia's currently sixteen, and she just put her boyfriend in the hospital for power-related reasons."

Jackie took a moment to remember what Marie had told her previously about putting David into a coma when her powers manifested at sixteen. A smirk crossed her face.

"Wow," said Jackie. "Pretty neat coincidence."

"Yeah. Right now, however, I'm worried about reading any more," said Marie. "It's making me nervous."

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill," said Jackie. "Besides, look at the cover! That chick has black hair with a white stripe. You have brown hair with a white stripe. This is not the sci-fi version of your life story."

"I know," Marie replied, sitting up. "It's just... I can't recall having this many similarities with a fictional character before. It's really weird."

"And scary apparently," Jackie said, smirking. "You scare too easily."

"Hey you can't tell me that if you ever read a book involving the daughter of the leader of a crime family, who had some kind of mutant or magical powers, and red and black eyes, and masqueraded as a member of the country's police force in whatever form that may take, that you wouldn't be just a little freaked out too."

"Sure I can."

"Oh riiiiiight," Marie said, looking Jackie over. "Because you wouldn't _admit_ it, even if it did. Admitting something scared you might make you look weak."

"See?" Jackie said, grinning at her. "I always knew you were smart."

"It's a wonder I ever believe a word you say."

* * *

><p>Jackie snatched up her ringing phone, and checked the name that flashed up on the screen before answering it.<p>

"Hey Papa," she said. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Remy replied. "Unfortunately."

Jackie chuckled.

"Do you have any plans for tonight?" Remy asked.

"Yep," Jackie answered cheerfully. "I'm having some friends over for some stripping and drinking games, which'll hopefully lead to group sex. That's the best way to celebrate Valentines Day, right? Free love?"

"Group sex hein?" Remy said, with a grunt. "Just as long as you're not doing drugs."

"Drugs are for the weak."

"For once your mère and I agree on something."

Jackie laughed. "So, what about you? Dinner with your mistress?"

"Actually I was wondering if you want to do something with me. We haven't really... But it doesn't matter. You have plans, and it was short notice anyway."

"Some other time."

"Oui. I assume that Marie's seeing Ryan?"

"Uh huh."

"Oh well, I guess I get this year off then," Remy said, sounding resigned.

"Heh," Jackie replied. "Oh merci for the flowers and chocolates, by the way. And Marie loved that sappy little poem you left with hers."

"Nice to know, and you're welcome."

"I don't see why you have to leave mushy stuff for Marie," Jackie said. "Why don't you leave the mushy stuff for femmes who are actually romantically interested in you?"

Remy was silent for a long moment.

"Because I'm romantically interested in her," he said finally and added quickly: "Have fun with your group sex tonight. Try not to catch anything. Love you, Sunshine."

And he hung up before Jackie could say another word.

* * *

><p>A few days later, Jackie walked into the club room after her last class for the day to find Marie in a royal rage. Chris and Ryan weren't looking very happy either.<p>

"—and if I ever get my hands on that jackass, I'm going to beat him into a bloody pulp!" Marie said angrily, slamming her fist into her hand.

"What happened?" Jackie asked.

"Oh don't ask—" Sandra began.

"The new program director changed the requirements for all the engineering majors," said Chris irritably. "Most of the classes we haven't done have been booked out for this semester already. We're all going to have to come back for at least another semester."

"Maybe two," Marie said. "I've got five classes I have to do before I can graduate now. I'm going to kill the—"

"We get the idea already," Sandra said. "You're mad. I would be too."

"Oh I am not mad," Marie said, sounding mad. "I am beyond mad."

"Yeah, she's crazy too," Toby joked.

"Don't have to worry, Marie," Jackie said with casual cheerfulness as she sat down on a nearby tabletop. "If he's changed the requirements of either of my majors, _I'm_ going to kill him."

For a moment Marie thought Jackie was serious. Then she remembered what Jackie said about not being allowed to kill for personal reasons and was only mildly placated.

"That's right Jackie," said Toby. "As long as you can graduate with your double major on schedule, who cares if these guys have to hang around another year?"

"Absolument," said Jackie. "I have a schedule to keep."

"My heart bleeds for you," Marie said dryly.

"You really are in a mood, huh?" Jackie mused, then looked over Marie, Ryan and Chris. "You guys should go get laid."

"Uhh what?" Ryan asked.

"You trois should go find yourself somewhere private, get naked and screw each other," Jackie said, her eyes glinting with mischief. "Sex is a good way to release tension. It always cheers me up."

"Oookay! I don't think so!" Chris said the same time Ryan objected with: "Umm, no."

"Sex is not the answer to everything," Marie said, glowering at Jackie.

"So not true," Jackie replied. "Also, I have some cherry condoms with me you can use. That way you can suck Chris off while Ryan plows you into the mattress. Or the table. Wherever you happen to be at the time. That way all of you can have some release."

"Jackie!" Marie objected.

"Although," Jackie said thoughtfully, before Marie (or either of the guys) could protest any further. "If Chris and Ryan are both virgins still—you two haven't consummated yet, have you?—then it might be more awkward than relieving, at least for you."

Jackie sighed and stood up again, grabbing her bag. "Come on Marie. I think a visit to the gym is in order. Since sex is out, I guess a punching bag will have to do."

* * *

><p>It was hard not to miss that Marie was in a sour mood when Remy picked her up the following Saturday. When her sullen state hadn't lifted by the time they got to Remy's home, he finally worked up the nerve to ask her if anything was wrong.<p>

Marie sighed. "I got bad news this week. They changed the requirements for my major, and now I have to do five extra classes."

"Which means?" Remy asked, unlocking the door.

"I don't graduate until I pass those classes, so I'm going to have to stay at least another semester," Marie said following Remy inside the house and flopping down on the lounge. "I'm hoping that all five of them will be available, that way I can do them all at once. If they're not, and I have to stay two semesters, I'll have to do extra classes on top of that, because I need to do twelve credits a semester to qualify as a full-time student."

"Why is that important?" Remy asked sitting next to her.

"Only full-time students get to live in the dorms."

"Oh," Remy said, then shrugged. "Well you can always move in with me."

Marie was silent and regarded him seriously. "No, I really don't think so."

"I'll try not to take that rejection personally," Remy replied dryly.

"It's bad enough I'm dating someone else's husband, I'm sure as hell not moving in with one," Marie retorted hotly, stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry, Remy. I'm sure you were just trying to be helpful. I'm just frustrated. I don't mind taking the extra classes if I have to take a second semester as well; there are a couple I thought looked interesting. I'm just frustrated that I have to take extra classes at all."

Remy reached over and took her hand. "I understand. The offer's always open if you change your mind."

"Thanks. So...what's the plan for today?" Marie asked, looking around. "We're not going out?"

"I figured it was a bit crowded for anything decent," Remy said. "Carnival season and all. I thought you might like to stay here and play games for awhile. Board games, card games—"

"I'm amazed that 'card games' was only second on your list," Marie said with a smirk.

"Sexy games if you're feeling so inclined," Remy went on as if she hadn't said anything, and gave her a wink.

"Ahh, I see," Marie said, nodding sagely. "This list is in reverse order of preference."

Remy chuckled. "The day's pretty open. I know it's not exactly a very adventurous date, but it's not something we've done, and I've been out in the crowds all week. I could do with some alone time with ma chère."

"That's fine," Marie replied with a smile.

"And tonight," Remy went on, "home-cooked meal and candlelight."

"How romantic."

"It is, isn't it?"

And so the day of gaming began. Remy admitted when he pulled out Monopoly that when he and Jackie used to play, they would cheat outrageously: steal money from the bank, accidentally-on-purpose skip squares when they moved around the board, make up rent amounts when the other landed on their property.

"Even picked up a Chance card with that message about having to pay for street repairs, and told her I'd won a beauty contest instead," Remy said with a sly grin.

"You guys never checked up on each other, to keep each other honest?" Marie asked.

"That was part of the game; if we didn't catch the other cheating, they were allowed to get away with it."

In light of his company, however, Remy was prepared to play honestly. That is, right up until he discovered a silly grin on Marie's face that she was failing to hide. It wasn't until after he rolled the dice that he realised Marie should have landed on his property her last turn, and he called her on it.

"You've already rolled the dice, sugar," Marie pointed out smugly. "That means I stay."

"Of course you realise this means war."

Marie was smart enough to realise that her inability to keep her amusement to herself was a strong contributor to why Remy kept calling all her cheats from then on. As a result, she decided she needed to continue being amused for the entirety of the game; not an easy feat. Remy got away with a lot more cheating than she did, despite her diligence in checking cards and counting spaces. She never saw him steal from the bank, although he did frequently, and she did note his cash supply increasing all the while.

"Right, that's it," Marie said.

She reached over, grabbed the whole wad of remaining $500 notes in the bank and placed them swiftly on top of her existing pile of the same.

"Well, hmm, let me think," Remy said, smirking at her. "I believe that's cheating chère."

"Oh no," Marie said dramatically, the back of her hand resting on her forehead. "I have been caught cheating! Whatever will I do?"

"Put them back?" Remy suggested, grinning at her melodrama.

"Fine."

Marie picked up most of the pile and put the notes back. Remy raised an eyebrow, noting that the remaining pile was just that little bit bigger than it was before.

"And the rest of them," Remy said.

"I don't know what you mean," Marie replied. "Your roll."

"You didn't have that many notes," Remy said.

"Oh really?" Marie asked smugly. "Are you sure? Did you count them?"

Remy wagged a finger at her. "You're a very naughty, sneaky little girl. I have taught you well."

Marie laughed.

The game continued until they both got bored. There was no clear winner, but in Remy's opinion that wasn't the point of playing in the first place.

"Alright," Marie said as Remy set Battleship. "Let's make this interesting, shall we?"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Remy asked.

"Whenever one of us loses a ship, we have to...sing a nursery rhyme or something."

Remy laughed. "Battleship karaoke, hein?"

"Yeah, that."

"I don't know, chère," Remy said slyly. "I think strip Battleship sounds like more fun."

Much to his surprise, the frown that Marie gave him was thoughtful, rather than cross.

"Maybe later," she said finally.

"I'm sorry," Remy said, regarding her curiously. "Were you actually considering that? For real?"

Marie grinned at him.

"I'll just let you figure that one out for yourself," she replied coyly.

"Please don't toy with me."

"Why? You toy with me all the time."

"Damn, hoisted by my own petard."

Marie laughed at him and Battleship karaoke began. Early on in the game, Remy sunk Marie's submarine, so she got up and sang "I'm a Little Teapot" with the actions. A little later, Marie sunk Remy's aircraft carrier. Remy got up and sang a song in French. Marie frowned a little as she listened. Her French vocabulary had greatly improved since she had began college in New Orleans, and the words she understood did not sound much like a nursery rhyme.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," Marie said when he finished and sat down again. "My French isn't that good, but...that sounded more like a drinking song than a nursery rhyme."

Remy shrugged. "It is a drinking song. Those are the only nursery rhymes I know."

"You're joking, right?"

"Non. I spent the first ten years of my life on the street, remember?"

"And they lulled you to sleep with drinking songs?" Marie asked dubiously.

"I wasn't exactly growing up with a very maternal group of people, chère. As soon as I could, they had me picking pockets," Remy replied. "By the time Jean-Luc adopted me, they figured I was too old for that kids' stuff. Never even heard a real nursery rhyme until the day I heard Belle singing one to Jackie."

"That's so sad," Marie said.

Remy laughed.

"I hardly feel deprived," he said, grinning at her. "Now, let's see. D4."

"Hit," Marie replied after a look at her board. "Didn't you ever learn any to sing to Jackie? E7."

"Non, I just sang her drinking songs—"

"Remy!"

"What? Never did me any harm. That's a miss, by the way. D5."

"Hit. Dare I ask what your favourite toy as a child was?" Marie asked. "C7."

"Miss," Remy replied, eyeing his game board configuration. "Well, I used to have this hammer... D6."

"Miss. A hammer? A _hammer_ was your favourite toy?" Marie demanded. "C8."

"Miss. What? I was raised as a thief and expected to be light, quiet and fast. Hammer was good for destroying stuff and making lots of noise. Especially when you hit other people with it... well, when I was strong enough to lift the thing anyway. Oh, umm, D3."

"Hit. And whatever happened to this hammer of yours?" Marie asked sweetly. "C6."

"Hit. Belle broke it actually," Remy said sadly. "There I was doing the gentlemanly thing, and rescuing a damsel in distress from thugs out to kill her... and it turned out that she wasn't really in that much distress after all. That fille was faster with her daggers at that age than I was with my lockpicks. She threw one right into the handle of my hammer, and well, good bye hammer. D2."

"Hit. You sunk my battleship," Marie said with a grumble. "How old were you?"

"Eight. In hindsight, I probably should have realised she was going to spend the rest of my life wrecking my favourite toys," Remy said with a sigh.

"Hmph, well, I'm just going to have to fix this. A hammer is a tool, not a toy."

"But it was so much fun to play with..."

"I will now teach you 'Intsy Wincy Spider'," Marie said firmly. "Now, put your fingers together like this."

Remy eyed her skeptically as Marie pressed her left index finger to her right thumb, and her left thumb to her right finger.

"This really isn't necessary, chérie—"

"Don't be silly. Fingers. Now."

Remy saluted. "Ma'am, yes ma'am."

"Good attitude, keep it up," Marie replied without missing a beat. She waited until Remy's fingers were in position, and then showed him how to make them climb. "Intsy, wincy spider climbed up the water spout..."

It was perhaps, the longest game of Battleship either of them had ever played. Remy parried Marie's insistence at teaching him nursery rhymes with making her learn his drinking songs. When at last Battleship came to an end (Marie won), Remy decided it was time to get on with making dinner.

"How come you have so many board games anyway?" Marie asked, looking over his collection. "Your family didn't consider them to be 'kids stuff' too, when you were adopted?"

"Actually mon père didn't mind board and card games if he thought they were educational," Remy replied as he pulled ingredients out of the fridge. "I really built up the collection when Jackie was little though. We used to play together all the time."

"Aww."

"And now she plays with other men and their...toys," Remy said wryly.

"Ugh don't remind me," Marie said. "I don't know what exactly they were doing the night of Valentines Day, but I found some guy's underwear in my bed."

Remy snickered.

"It's not funny, Swamp Rat. It was gross, and it had gross...stuff...on it..." Marie said, now blushing.

"Gross 'stuff' hein?" Remy asked, guessing what that blush was indicating.

"I decided to just burn the sheets."

"Good plan."

"It's not funny! Stop laughing!" Marie scolded him. "Some guy was jacking off in my bed. I think I have to right to expect my bed to remain unsullied by Jackie's extracurricular activities."

"Hmm, so how'd Jackie take it when you told her off?" Remy asked, still with a smile on his face, although he did contain further laughter.

"She agreed with me. Although, I think she was more upset about the lack of hygiene than the fact other people were doing _that_ on or in my bed," Marie replied, sitting down on the stool by the kitchen bench. "Ugh. I don't want to sleep in a bed other people have been screwing in."

Then she froze, realising she did just that once a month. Who knew how many other women Remy had taken to his bed?

"Well, I'm sure you'll be relieved to know," Remy said, putting slices of pre-marinated chicken in the frying pan, "that I always change the sheets when you come over."

"Oh...you do?"

"Oui," Remy said. "I have a set reserved just for you."

"Oh, well, that's... That's really very sweet, Remy," Marie said, regarding him with both interest and surprise.

Remy gave a half shrug and put the lid over the frying pan. "You're a classy lady, chère. Femme like you shouldn't be lumped in with women whose idea of an adventure is to have an affair with a married man."

Marie cracked a smile. "See every now and then we have a moment like this which makes me think if you weren't married, I'd date you. For real, I mean."

"Now _that_," said Remy, turning and smiling at her, "is probably the highest compliment you've ever paid me."

"Yeah, yeah. Just don't tell Jackie I said that. She'd be mortified."

Remy chuckled. "That she would."

He sighed then, and started preparing the vegetables. Marie offered to help, but he passed.

"I know I can't really object to her sleeping around," he began.

"Yeah, that's called hypocrisy," Marie interrupted dryly.

"I just wish Jackie would date more," Remy said.

"Date more and group sex less?" Marie asked.

"Oui," Remy said, slicing up the celery. "It's not that I want her to get married—I completely understand why she doesn't want to do that—but I would like her to fall for someone."

Marie nodded slowly. "She sees love and sex as two different things, because the people she loves, she doesn't want to sleep with, and the people she sleeps with, she doesn't love. Well, except maybe Sy, but I think that's more 'love as a friend she happens to sleep with' rather than 'in love'."

"That sounds about right," Remy said, pausing to check up on the chicken. "Sex is just a pastime, a physical urge that needs placating every now and then."

"I have to admit, I'm rather amused that you raised her, and yet you disapprove of her opinion of sex."

"That's hardly a new phenomenon," Remy said. "Lots of parents and children disagree on sexual matters. Assuming they talk about it at all. But...in fairness to Jackie, in my youth sex was something I did for fun too."

"Oh?" Marie asked, looking at him curiously. "And it's not any more?"

"The most rewarding sex I've ever had was with women I loved," Remy said seriously. "Yeah sure, it's more fun with more experience, it even better when you've been doing it awhile with the same person, because you get to know each other's bodies. But there's just something about being with someone you love..."

Marie nodded. "And you want Jackie to experience that."

"Don't all parents want the best for their kids?"

Marie smiled. The conversation turned to less serious matters while Remy cooked. When dinner was ready, he dimmed the lights and lit the candles he brought out with a charge from the tip of his fingers. He turned some music on and sat down at the table.

"So," said Marie. "Wherever are you taking me for our weekend over Spring Break?"

"Now chère," Remy replied, tapping the side of his nose. "That would be telling."

"You just love your surprises, don't you?"

"One of these days I'll surprise you by not surprising you."

Marie laughed.

After they'd eaten their fill, Remy danced with Marie in the lounge room to the music that was playing on the stereo. Marie rested her head on his shoulder while a slow song played and Remy held he close. He couldn't help but be glad he'd be able to date her at least until the end of the year, instead of just a few more months.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:<strong>

You can see Remy and Bella Donna's first meeting in the comics Gambit Series 3 #1, and Gambit Origin #1 (I don't know why they called it #1, there was only one issue!). I made it up that the hammer was his favourite toy ;-p


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

Marie looked around at the quiet camping ground. There were trees all around, doing a fairly good job of hiding the small clearing. Ahead of them was a small lake full of clear water.

"Well," said Remy, setting his backpack down on the ground. "This looks as good a spot as any to put the tent."

Marie turned and grinned at him. "I'd agree with that. Man, this is awesome. I haven't been camping in years and years and years."

Remy chuckled. "So you keep saying."

They pulled out the two-man tent and set it up together. It had taken them three hours to hike there, and Marie had expressed her surprise that Remy was into camping at all.

"I'm a little surprised that your idea of camping doesn't involve a five-star hotel, city-boy," she had said.

"It used to," he had admitted in turn. "I had an ex who was very much into camping, though. And Belle's idea of camping most definitely involves a five-star hotel, so that was just incentive to go camping more often."

After the tent had been set up and their things had been deposited inside, Marie decided to chance and go for a swim in the lake. While she changed, Remy gathered wood for the fire they would light later.

Remy noted with some disappointment that Marie had bought a new bikini: one with a top that covered up more of her breasts than the last one did. He said nothing, just changed into his speedo when Marie had vacated the tent, and then joined her in the lake. The water was rather cold, but most refreshing after their trek.

Although Remy very much wanted to hug and kiss Marie in the water, he restrained himself. Last time he'd made out with Marie in a bikini it hadn't gone so well. He'd wait for her to make the first move on that one.

Eventually, they got out of the lake. Remy was quick to light the fire with a kinetic charge and Marie grabbed the towels, wrapped one tightly around herself and handed the other to Remy.

"Why is it so warm in the water, and so cold out of the water?" Marie grumbled.

Remy chuckled and thanked her for the towel. He dried himself off before wrapping the towel around his waist and sitting down at the fire with Marie. Once they felt they were sufficiently dried off, they dressed, and then cooked dinner. By that point it had grown reasonably dark, and they sat together on the shore and looked out at the stars. Remy held Marie close and she rested her head on his shoulder.

It wasn't very late when they decided to retire to sleep, but it was dark and they were both getting sleepy. Marie was much amused that Remy had forgone the sleeping bags for an air mattress they could share, and helped him make the bed. He then, quite contentedly, curled up with Marie in the bed, snug in their tent, and they went to sleep.

* * *

><p>Marie and Remy woke with the dawn the next morning. They enjoyed a pleasant breakfast, and then prepared for their day's hiking. When they were about ready to go, Marie found Remy eyeing the tent with a pensive look on his face.<p>

"Ready?" she asked.

"Oh, umm, yeah," Remy replied, glancing at her distractedly, then back at the tent.

"Something wrong?"

"It's nothing," he said, paused briefly, and then asked: "Do you think we should take the tent with us?"

"Why?" Marie asked. "I thought we were going to be coming back here."

"Well, we are."

"And wouldn't it be extra weight for this rock climbing you wanted to do?"

"Well, yeah."

"So, there's really no point in bringing it," Marie said and gestured to the trees. "Where's this trail of yours?"

"Oh, umm, this way," Remy said, walking in the indicated direction.

Marie raised her eyebrows when Remy paused midstep, and looked hesitantly back at the tent.

"What? You afraid someone's going to steal it?" she asked dryly, and then her face lit up. "Ooooh! You're afraid someone's going to steal it!"

"Shut up," Remy muttered, and hurried quickly down the trail.

Marie followed, giggling all the while.

"Wow, the big bad thief is afraid of being robbed," she teased him. "We're in the middle of nowhere, Remy. No one's going to steal it."

"It always happens when you least expect it."

"Well, yes I guess that's the voice of experience talking," Marie said merrily. "Now sugar, I know this may be hard for you to accept, but most people wouldn't go hiking for three hours just to steal someone's little two-man tent."

"Hey, that's a good quality tent!"

"And I'm sure you're very proud of it, but if I was going to steal a tent—"

"You'd find one in an isolated area where there's unlikely to be witnesses," Remy said pointedly.

"Next thing you're going to tell me, you've got GPS tracking on your tent."

"Actually that's a really good idea."

Marie laughed even harder.

"What?" she asked between giggles. "You didn't think of it already?"

"Don't go camping that often," Remy replied with a shrug.

"Why?" Marie taunted. "Is it too stressful for you?"

"Alright smarty-pants," Remy said, as he stopped at a steep slope which would require more climbing than walking to ascend, and turned to look at her. "You might want to start conserving your breath right about now."

Marie had one last chuckle as Remy started the climb and followed when there was enough room. He was quite right on the matter of needing her breath. Still, partway through the climb, Marie let loose a wolf-whistle. Remy turned his head and looked down at her.

"Did you just wolf-whistle at me?" he asked.

"Sorry," Marie replied mischievously. "I just have such a great view of your butt back here."

Remy laughed softly. "You can have a closer look later, if you want."

"If you don't start moving again, Swamp Rat, I'll be able to pinch it. Hard."

"Oooh goody."

Marie was not at all surprised when he just stayed then, grinning at down at her. So, when her head was level with his backside, Marie reached up and gave it a good slap.

"I thought you said you were going to pinch it," Remy said, smirking at her.

"I'm allowed to change my mind," she said primly.

Remy chuckled and started climbing again. It was uncommon, but not unusual, for Marie to touch his backside, although it generally only happened while they were making out. She'd never wolf-whistled at him before though, or admitted she'd been checking him out. (In fairness, he supposed it was probably a little difficult for her to avoid 'the view' right now).

There were precious few places where the ground levelled out on the climb, and the pair stopped for a few minutes break at each of them. Eventually they reached the top.

"Wow," Marie said, looking out at the view. "I see why you wanted to show me this."

All around her there were trees, except for right in front of them, where the outcropping overlooked the lake. The midday sun reflected brightly off the surface and Marie had to shade her eyes, but in all it was a pretty fantastic view.

Marie heard a click behind her and turned to see Remy with a camera. She smiled.

"Oui, it is a pretty good view," he said and touched one of her while locks lightly. "Almost as good as this one. Or the view you had earlier today."

Marie laughed and Remy grinned at her.

"Come on," he said. "I've got a couple of towels and hand wipes. Then we can have lunch."

"Sounds good."

They wiped off the grime, muck and sweat, then settled down to eat. Remy took a few more photos of Marie, until Marie swiped his camera and started taking photos of him in 'revenge'. When the camera chase ended, Remy sat the camera up on a rock, set the delay and took a couple of photos of them together, with the view of the lake behind them.

They spent a little longer admiring the view, then packed up and started their return journey to camp. When they started to approach the clearing, Marie ran ahead, dropped off her backpack, then ran back.

"Remy! Remy! You have to see this!" she exclaimed, grabbing his arm and dragging him towards the clearing.

"What?" Remy asked, unwittingly following her.

"It's the tent!" Marie said, pointing at it as soon as the tent came into view. "It's still here!"

Remy gave Marie an unimpressed look as she let go of his arm and burst into laughter.

"You're not going to let me hear the end of this, are you?" he asked dryly, taking off his backpack.

"I shall mock you forever," Marie replied between giggles.

Remy nodded slowly.

"Come here you," he said, and lunged towards her.

Marie laughed and danced out of the way. Remy chased after her to the shoreline, and then tackled her into the water. Marie came up for breath and started splashing him. He splashed back at her. Soaked to the bone, they somehow made their way into each other's arms and kissed.

Remy ran his fingers through Marie's wet hair.

"I..." he started to say. "You're so beautiful."

"You're not so bad yourself, Swamp Rat," Marie replied.

She slipped from his grasp and returned to the shore. Remy followed close behind, admiring now how her wet clothes were clinging to her body.

"And now," Marie said, looking down at herself, "my clothes are completely drenched."

"You'll just have to take them off then, won't you?" Remy replied, grinning at her.

"Pervert."

Remy just laughed. He headed to the tent and grabbed their swimwear and a couple of towels, which had been conveniently left by the door.

"Yeah," Marie said, as she accepted her bikini from him. "This might have been a better idea _before_ we ended up in the water."

Remy chuckled and Marie allowed herself a moment to run her eyes over the soaked shirt hugging his chest before moving around to the other side of the tent so she could change without him seeing anything. Once they'd both changed, their wet clothes were left to dry and Remy took another photo of Marie.

"Hey," she objected. "What do I look like? A swimsuit model?"

"Actually, now that you mention it," Remy replied. "Oui."

"Knock it off, Swamp Rat," Marie said, reaching for the camera.

"I seem to recall going through this earlier," Remy said, holding the camera away from her. "Oooh are you planning on taking another picture of me? Oh goody. Here, let me pose."

Marie laughed despite herself when Remy not only gave her the camera, but started clowning around, flexing his arms in various poses.

"Don't flatter yourself," she said.

She took a photo anyway, just because she could.

* * *

><p>It was getting chilly by the time they were done with dinner, but rather than changing into her pajamas, or at least grabbing the blanket, Marie thought it would be a brilliant idea to go swimming first. Naturally, Remy joined her.<p>

"Oooh, cold," Marie said, stepping into the water gingerly.

"Well, you're the one who wanted to go swimming," Remy said,

Marie poked her tongue out at him, and then rushed into the water as quickly as possible to get past the whole 'cold' thing. Remy chuckled and followed suit. Marie paddled around for awhile, then engaged in another splashing war with Remy.

"You know chère," Remy said, back to paddling around after their war, when it started to get dark. "If you were any other woman, we'd be skinny dipping at the moment."

"Really?" Marie asked, looking at him with a slight smirk on her face. "_Any_ other woman? What about Jackie?"

"Aside from Jackie."

"Bella Donna?"

"Oui, even Bella Donna would be skinny dipping with me right now," Remy replied, smirking back at Marie. "I believe this because Bella Donna hates camping, so if she ever agreed to go camping _alone_ with me in the first place, it would be a miracle."

Marie laughed.

"Actually, skinny dipping is on my list of things to do before I die," Marie said thoughtfully.

"Isn't that one I suggested?" Remy asked.

"Probably. Jackie suggested a few, but hers were more along the lines of 'mud wrestling'."

Remy chuckled and Marie grinned at him.

"She's your daughter," Marie said.

"Oui, that she is," Remy replied ruefully. "So...have you done any mud wrestling yet?"

"Nope."

"Are you going to?"

"It's on the list."

"Can I watch?"

"Pervert."

"Isn't that the point of mud wrestling? To be ogled?" Remy asked.

Marie grinned at him. "Jackie's been looking for a good occasion for her and I to mud wrestle each other. You can come to that if you want."

"Let's see..." Remy said, his face screwed up in serious consideration. "On the positives, ogling Marie. On the negatives, listening to other men ogling my girlfriend and my daughter. Maybe I should sit it out."

"What?" Marie asked, her eyes filled with mischief. "Just concerned about listening to other guys ogling Jackie? You're not perturbed by watching your daughter put herself on display like that?"

"Well, it's not like she'll be naked," Remy replied with a shrug. "I've seen her covered in mud before. Maybe not covered in mud for the sexual gratification of others, but still, clothed and muddy is still clothed and muddy."

"There is topless mud wrestling," Marie pointed out slyly.

"True," Remy said, smirking at her. "But I don't believe for one minute that someone with your moral standards towards nudity and sex would agree to topless mud wrestling."

Marie's mischievous smile brightened with pleasure. She swam over to Remy and wrapped her arms around him. Surprised, but delighted, Remy slipped his hands around her waist.

"Just when I think you don't know me at all," she said, and kissed his nose.

Remy kissed her lips gently.

"I wish I knew you better," he said, his voice sincere, and for once free of any hint of innuendo.

"Sure," Marie said. "But as friends."

"Friends who occasionally kiss, right?"

"Yeah, but only 'cause you're a good kisser," Marie replied with a teasing grin.

Remy laughed softly.

"And Remy? For what it's worth, I forgive you," she said.

"Forgive me?" Remy asked. "For what?"

"For...for what happened at Las Vegas," Marie replied, studying him thoughtfully. "Don't tell me you forgot?"

"No, not at all," he assured her. "I just... I wasn't expecting you to forgive me, well, ever."

"Well, I wasn't planning to forgive you, ever," Marie admitted wryly. "But...you've been very... I've seen another side of you these last couple of months. This gentleman who actually respects my boundaries instead of pushing at them all the time. A man who owns up to his responsibilities and acknowledges when he does something wrong, and tries to make up for it as best he can. I think I'd like to see more of Remy-the-gentleman, and less of Remy-the-lecher."

"Hey," Remy objected. "I'm not a lecher."

"Mmmhmm."

"I'm not!"

Marie grinned at him as she started backwards towards the shore. "Do you prefer 'womaniser', then?"

"I don't use women for sex!" Remy said, swimming after her.

"Tell that to the girls at the brothel!"

"That's different!"

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, Swamp Rat!"

Marie made a beeline for her towel as soon as she got to dry land and wrapped it tightly around her. She was only just out of the water, but already shivering. Remy dropped a few extra pieces of wood into the fire then grabbed his own towel. Marie made a point of drying herself off as quickly as possible, then zipped into the tent to grab her pajamas. When she came back out, she had the blanket wrapped around her, and she hung up her bikini and towel to dry while Remy took his turn to change in the tent.

"Say chère," Remy said, poking his head out once he was dressed in his pajama bottoms and a sleeveless shirt. "Wanna put out the fire and call it a night?"

"It's still early..." Marie replied.

"What are we going to do? Sit around and chat?" Remy asked. "Come on, it'll be warmer in here."

"Away from the fire?"

"Body heat."

"I should have seen that coming."

Remy chuckled. He watched as Marie put out the fire, and then moved away from the tent doorway so she could join him. Once the entrance was zipped up, Marie laid down on the air mattress with Remy and draped the blanket over both of them. Remy wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"See?" he said. "This is way better."

"You just wanted an excuse to get your hands on me," Marie replied flippantly.

"Can you blame me?" he asked, and then he kissed her.

Marie was a little taken aback at Remy's enthusiasm at that moment, and was momentarily concerned he was going to start pushing her again, despite what she'd just said about him being a gentleman lately. But, no, his hands stuck to her hips, waist and back.

"So," he said after succeeding in kissing her breathless. "Has Marie been enjoying the weekend?"

Marie smiled at him.

"Marie has," she replied tolerantly. "But it's been way different from the last time I went camping."

"Oui? What happened?" Remy asked, sensing a story was coming.

"Me and my friends decided it would be a good idea to tell ghost stories," Marie said mischievously.

"Let me guess, you scared them?"

"They screamed like little girls."

"Because they were little girls, right?"

"Yep."

Remy laughed and Marie grinned at him.

"Well," Remy said. "I'm glad you're having a good time, even if there aren't any little girls around for you to terrify with ghost stories."

Marie chuckled. "And I assume you've been having a good weekend too?"

"Any weekend I get to spend with you is a good one."

"Suck up."

"I will if you want me too."

"Deviant."

"Old habits die hard."

"Speaking of habits," Marie said, running her hand over his face gently. "How's the no-smoking thing coming along?"

"Nine whole months since I last had one," Remy replied proudly.

"I'm impressed," Marie said sincerely. "And you've gone cold turkey? No patches or anything?"

"Oui, no patches," Remy said. "And Emil said I wouldn't last. Bah! to him."

Marie laughed. "Well, far be it for Remy LeBeau to shy from a challenge, right?"

"Right," Remy said, smiling at her while her hand trailed gently down his arm. "Have I ever told you how much I like it when you touch me?"

"Umm," Marie said, focusing on his muscled arm instead of his eyes. "Not recently."

"Well, I love it. You make me feel like...like I'm the only one who matters. I mean," Remy went on with a cough, "I know I'm not, but it's nice to feel like I am."

Marie lifted her eyes again, but now it was Remy who was avoiding hers.

"I'm not sure how I accomplish that," she said softly, "but it's nice to know. And Remy? You do matter. You know that, right?"

Remy met her eyes and offered her a smile.

"Merci," he said. "You matter too."

"Good to know."

* * *

><p>In his usual fashion, Remy kept Marie in bed with him the following morning until circumstances demanded that they finally get up. So they changed, had a quick breakfast and packed up their things into their backpacks. As soon as the tent was dismantled and put away in Remy's backpack, Marie grabbed his shoulders with a panicked look on her face.<p>

"Remy! The tent! It's gone! I think someone stole it!" she exclaimed dramatically.

Remy gave her a cynical look. Marie let go and burst into laughter.

"You're a riot," he said dryly.

He pulled his backpack on, and Marie did the same with hers, giggling all the way through.

"Okay," Remy said. "It's not _that_ funny."

Marie hooked her elbow around Remy's arm and grinned up at him.

"If I can't tease you about being worried about being robbed, Swamp Rat, what can I tease you about?" Marie asked. "So, about this Tent Super Fortress I can see in your future?"

"Tent Super Fortress?" Remy repeated as he led them to the trail they would take back to the car.

"Yeah," Marie said gleefully. "The one with the extra security features like GPS tracking, laser beams, force fields, heat and motion sensors, death rays, guaranteed to keep intruders at bay, so matter how small or big they may be."

"And as a bonus," Remy said. "It even keeps you sheltered from the elements."

"And keyless entry," Marie said and mimed using a remote. "Doop doop."

Remy laughed.

"See? All in good fun," Marie said, grinning at him. "Although, I have to say, for someone who's concerned about being robbed, you don't exactly have much security around your home."

"Heh," Remy said smugly. "That's what you think. Just because I don't have to disable an alarm when I walk through the front door, doesn't mean I don't have any security."

Marie considered this and nodded.

"Besides," Remy went on. "Who would the alarm alert anyway? The cops? They're the last people I want anywhere near my place."

"I take the point," Marie said.

* * *

><p>The following Monday, Cassie looked up from her work to stare at Remy, who had entered singing a merry tune.<p>

"Someone's in a good mood today," she said.

"Bonjour Cassie!" Remy said, perching himself on the one bare space on her desk. "And how are you this fine, wonderful day?"

"I'm well, merci," she replied, as the other girls, Gwen and Lori looked over to watch.

"Have I ever told you how much I appreciate your fine work here?" Remy asked.

"Not recently," Cassie said, eyeing him suspiciously. "Okay, Remy, what do you want?"

"Me? Nothing," Remy replied. "Actually, no, I take that back. I wanna give you a raise."

Cassie's dubious gaze moved from Remy's eyes to the crotch of his pants. Remy noticed and laughed.

"Not that kind of raise. A pay raise," he said, then looked over at Gwen and Lori. "You femmes should have one too."

"Does Bella Donna know about this?" Cassie asked. Not that she had any objection to getting a pay increase, but most things around here required Remy and Bella Donna to agree on something.

"We'll tell her now," Remy said, leaned over and pressed the appropriate button on Cassie's intercom. "Belle! Get your fat, ugly ass out here, now!"

"Remy!" Cassie exclaimed.

Bella Donna's office door flew open and all three secretaries made themselves very small.

"Who are you calling fat and ugly, you bilious bag of gator bait!" she demanded.

"You, you disgusting, bloated corpse," Remy retorted. "What do you think about giving these femmes a raise?"

Bella Donna looked down at Remy's crotch. Remy made a rude noise.

"A _pay_ raise," Remy said. "Honestly, you femmes have dirtier minds than me. Or...are you just missing my little man?"

"Little is right," Bella Donna replied contemptuously. "I don't want your pint-sized weiner within five feet of me. A pay rise sounds like a good idea. It's been awhile since they last got one."

"Then it's decided," Remy said and went on cheerfully: "Pint-sized, hein? That's roughly 33.6 cubic inches, non? Why Belle, did you just compliment me? I'm shocked."

"Not really," Bella Donna said with a condescending sniff. "The amount of blood and blood pressure required to gain and maintain an erection of that size would probably make you faint before you could do anything about it."

Remy laughed heartily and all four women regarded him like something was wrong.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" Bella Donna asked, her eyes narrowed at him.

"Let's just say," Remy said slyly, "I had a really, _really_ good weekend."

Bella Donna's face went cold.

"You disgust me," she said, then turned on her heel and stalked back into her office.

* * *

><p>Two weeks later, Remy picked up Marie on his motorcycle and brought her back to his place. He parked in the driveway next to a red car that Marie hadn't seen before.<p>

"Got a new car?" Marie asked after they'd gotten off the motorcycle.

"Oui," Remy said proudly.

"Another convertible, I see," Marie said musingly, looking over the two-seater sports car. "And red."

"Red cars go faster."

Marie laughed and followed Remy inside the house. Remy headed casually for the kitchen, chatting with Marie on the way. He opened up the fridge to start pulling out the things he needed for making dinner with, and promptly snapped his fingers in annoyance.

"Damn," he said. "I forgot to pick up dessert."

"Aww," Marie said. "It's okay. I'm sure—"

"Non!" Remy insisted, and pulled out a set of keys from his pocket. "We must have dessert. Dinner just wouldn't be complete without it. Here, take these. You want to go to the bakery on—"

"Wait," Marie said, looking at the keys with wide eyes. "You want me to drive your car?"

"Well, there's no point in taking the motorcycle, and it's too far to walk," Remy pointed out reasonably.

"Yeah, but...your _new_ car?" she questioned awkwardly.

Remy smiled.

"I'm sure you'll take car of her as if she was your own," he said, and went on to give her directions to the bakery. "Now go, I have to get dinner started."

"Okay," Marie said. "If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

Marie started to walk off, then stopped at the doorway. She frowned and looked back at Remy. "Why are you buying dessert, and not making it yourself?"

"Just because I can, doesn't mean I can't treat myself occasionally," Remy replied, grinning at her.

"Alright. I'll be back."

"Oh goody."

Marie laughed and headed out to the car, which unlocked when she pressed the button on the remote. She got in and smiled when she spotted the button for the automatic top. She started the car, lowered the roof and headed off. Her nervousness at driving Remy's brand new car quickly gave way as she enjoyed the drive and feeling the wind.

Her nerves returned when she went looking for a parking space near the bakery. It wasn't that she had trouble parking, it was more that she didn't want her first accident since getting her license to involve someone else's brand new car.

After succeeding in parking without incident, putting the top back up and locking the car, Marie headed inside the bakery and made her way to the counter.

"Hi," said the woman behind the counter. "What can I get you?"

"I'm here to collect a pick up for Remy LeBeau," Marie replied.

"Oh right," she said. "I'll be right back."

Marie waited while the woman went out the back, and then came back with a white box. She lifted the lid to show her the cake. Marie just nodded and the woman handed it to her.

"All paid for," she said. "Thanks very much."

"Thank you," Marie replied.

She took the cake and headed back out to the car. After she unlocked the car again, Marie put the cake on the passenger seat—really there was nowhere else to put it—and headed off with the top still up. She would have liked to have taken the top down, but while she was sure nothing would happen to the cake, she didn't want to risk it.

When Marie arrived back at Remy's place, the motorcycle was gone from the driveway. Marie figured he'd probably moved it inside the garage when he had a chance. She took the cake, locked up and headed inside.

"Hey, you're back," Remy said when Marie entered the kitchen.

"Yup," Marie replied. "Where would you like me to put this?"

"Umm," Remy said, looking around at his benches, now cluttered from his cooking efforts. "Just put it in the fridge for now."

"Okay."

Marie then—somehow—managed to manoeuvre herself around Remy, get to the fridge, put the cake in, and then succeeded in avoiding getting underfoot on her way out. She sat down on the stood by the kitchen bench, watched and chatted with Remy while he continued preparing and cooking the meal.

As he had a month ago, Remy organised candles and music to play while they enjoyed dinner. They danced after the main course, and then Remy served the chocolate cake with some whipped cream. Marie found herself blushing when she saw the whipped cream—the first time she and Remy had shared any since Las Vegas—and was grateful that the candlelight meant that Remy probably didn't notice.

"So," Remy said, scooping up another bite of cake with his dessert fork. "How'd you like the car?"

Marie nodded. "Yeah, it was nice."

"Like the interior?"

"It was very sexy."

"Did you take the top down?"

"On the way there."

Remy grinned at her. "I had a feeling you might. I'm glad you like it."

"I do," she assured him.

"Because it's yours."

Marie blinked. "Come again?"

Remy held the keys out to her. "It's yours. I bought it for you."

"I... You..." Marie stammered with wide eyes, looking between Remy and the keys. "It... Umm... But..."

"I shall assume that my generosity has stunned you into incoherency," Remy said with a glint of mischief in his eyes, "and that you're not planning on complaining about me buying you things again. After all, you're an honourable woman, and I know you'd never got back on our wager."

Marie licked her lips and swallowed hard.

"W-why?" she asked.

"I wanted to," Remy replied simply. "And I've gotten into this habit of giving my mistresses a car on our third anniversary, so ma famille will be expecting me to. Besides, you need a car."

Remy found the look of panic on Marie's face to be somewhat disappointing. He was hoping for excitement, although he had been realistic enough not to expect it.

"So, umm," Marie said after another hard swallow. "You bought me a car."

"Oui."

"Because Bella Donna will be expecting you to."

Remy cocked his head to the side. "That was part of it, oui. Belle will undoubtedly ask you about it at the anniversary party."

"So this is all part of the mistress façade?" Marie pressed. "This isn't... You're not... You don't feel like _that_ about me, do you?"

Remy opened his mouth to respond, but got nothing out before Marie hurried on:

"Because giving someone a car is a big deal, Remy. And I'm not complaining or rejecting it or anything, 'cause we had a deal," she said and Remy could now she that her hands were shaking. "But you and I... We're not... We can't... I'm just worried about that you might think that we're something we're not."

Remy looked at her steadily, and Marie hated that she couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

"I think we both know I'm romantically interested in you," he said evenly. "I'd be lying if I said that wasn't the case. I know you don't exactly reciprocate my feelings, and I'm not expecting the car to change that."

"I wasn't trying to say that you thought the car would change anything," Marie replied. "I'm worried about...about the symbolism here."

"You've been hanging out with too many English majors," Remy said, leaning back in his chair. "There's no symbolism here. It's a gift, chère. You're supposed to enjoy it. And the best thing about this gift is that it also serves you in a practical sense."

Marie nodded slowly.

"Okay," she said softly. "I just... I need a permit before I can park it at the college. Do you mind if I keep it here for now?"

Remy leaned across the table and deposited the keys into Marie's hand.

"Fine," he said, holding her fingers closed around them. "But you keep the keys."

Marie nodded and looked down at what was left of her dessert.

"This is real, isn't it?" she said.

"What do you mean?" Remy asked, leaning back in his chair again.

"We're really in a relationship, aren't we?" Marie said, looking like she wanted to cry.

"I have this overwhelming urge to say 'well duh'," Remy said dryly.

Marie cracked a smile despite herself, but the smile didn't last.

"I don't want to be a bad person," she said quietly.

"You're not."

"I'm having an affair with a married man."

"Would you just stop going on about that?" Remy demanded hotly, the first sign of emotion he had showed Marie all conversation. "Do you think I _like_ being reminded that the only thing standing between you and I is my _wife_? The whole point of having a mistress in the first place is to forget all about her! Do you honestly think I enjoy being tied down to that woman?"

"I thought the point of having a mistress was to get on her nerves," Marie snapped back at him.

"That's just a bonus. I'm hardly going to get involved with a woman I don't like just to get on her nerves," Remy retorted. "She's not worth the effort."

"But getting involved with a woman you know isn't interested in dating a married man, that is?"

"I _like_ you! Just in case that wasn't blatantly obvious! You're beautiful, and caring, fun and adventurous and you have this wicked sense of humour I can't get enough of. I've adored you since the day you first called me 'Swamp Rat'!"

Marie blinked in surprised.

"I... What?" she asked. "Swamp Rat?"

It was only then that Remy seemed to realise his admission, and he covered up his momentary embarrassment by scratching behind his ear and looking away.

"And 'down boy'," he added ruefully. "I liked that too. And I like it when you tell me off for giving you crap. Well, when I'm deliberately giving you crap. When I'm not trying to give you crap and you tell me off, that gets on my nerves, but...umm...yeah..."

"You like it when I tell you off," Marie said slowly.

"I like the way your eyes flash when you get mad, and when you rise to the challenge. And I like it when you get playful, and hell," Remy said, "I even liked it when you teased me about the tent last week. Chère, if there's anything that 'symbolises' our relationship, I'd say it was our camping trip, not this car. Seriously, you only ever tease the people you care about like that, not acquaintances."

"I guess so," Marie said thoughtfully.

There was quiet for a moment.

"Look, Marie, I don't know if you've noticed this, but it's kind of hard to have a truly romantic relationship when one of the deux isn't interested," Remy said seriously, and Marie cracked another smile. "So, as we said on our camping trip, we're just friends, who happen to kiss occasionally."

"Because you're a good kisser," Marie said, her smile growing a little bigger.

"Right," Remy said, smiling back at her. "And because we are friends, and you have that wicked sense of humour I'm so fond of, you're helping me piss off my wife by pretending to be more than what we are. Friends can give other friends cars, right?"

"I guess."

"So?" he asked gently. "What are you freaking out about then?"

Marie was silent for a long moment.

"Remy?" she said finally. "I'm sorry I can't reciprocate. I think you're a great guy too, although I have to say, until today I never thought there was any real proof that guys only pick on you 'cause they like you."

Remy laughed.

"Thanks for the car, Remy," Marie said.

"You're welcome."


	20. Chapter 20

**AN:**

I'm not really sure how this chapter ended up being so short, but hopefully quality will make up for quantity, heh.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 20<strong>

Jackie waltzed into the dorm room, whistling a merry tune.

"Oh hey Marie," Jackie said when she caught sight of her room mate on her bed. "I had an awesome time last night. I need to go to swingers parties more often."

"Why didn't you tell me your dad gives out cars as third anniversary presents to his mistresses?" Marie asked.

"He does?" Jackie asked.

Marie lifted her head and narrowed her eyes at Jackie. "You mean he doesn't?"

Jackie shrugged. "How would I know?"

"You're his daughter!"

"Right, and trying to keep track of Papa and Maman's lovers, and what they do with them, would be a full time job," Jackie pointed out as she sat down on her bed and started taking off her shoes. "I wouldn't have time to be a Thief, let alone an Assassin as well, and college would be completely out of the question."

Marie said nothing. She guessed Jackie had a point.

"Actually, now that you mention it," Jackie said thoughtfully. "I seem to recall him buying Meg a four-wheel drive. Yeah... I was sixteen? Seventeen? She invited me to go off-roading with them."

"Wow, a four-wheel drive going off-road? What a shocking concept," Marie said dryly.

Jackie laughed. "Meg was pretty cool. So, what kind of car did you score off Papa?"

Marie told her and eyed her curiously. "You're not the slightest bit perturbed about this?"

"Why?" Jackie asked.

"Your dad gave me a car!"

"Exactly! You scored a free car," Jackie replied cheerfully.

"Umm, has it ever occurred to you that giving someone a car might mean something?" Marie asked.

"Sure, it occurs to me that Papa's a sucker," Jackie said, stretching her arms above her head. "Nice job, Marie. We might make a con artist out of you yet."

Marie blinked. She opened her mouth to reply, closed it, and shook her head.

"What?" Jackie asked.

"I'm not trying to con your dad," Marie said.

"Sure you are," Jackie replied. "Wasn't that the point of your list of things to do before you die?"

"Oh... Well... I guess."

"See? You know, if you play this right, you could score some more good stuff off him," Jackie said thoughtfully.

"The Cure is the only thing I want from him," Marie said firmly.

"You should aim higher. He's left himself wide open," Jackie said.

"I pity any guy who should ever fall in love with you, Jackie."

Jackie snorted contemptuously. "True love is a fairy tale. Anyone who deceives themselves in that way deserves everything they get."

"Call me a romantic, but I have to disagree," Marie replied. "And I have zero interest in...in trying to con gifts, expensive or otherwise, out of Remy. Right now, my only concern is how in the world am I going to explain why I have a brand-spanking new car to everyone. If it had at least been second hand I could have told everyone I bought it but—"

"Tell 'em you won it in a raffle," Jackie said. "In fact, if you can last until the end of semester without driving it—"

"I _never_ want to drive it."

"Don't be stupid. You conned that car out of him, fair and square. My advice is to drive it up to New York, tell your friends there you won it in a raffle here in New Orleans, and then when you come back here, tell 'em you won it in New York."

Marie sighed and buried her face in her hands. "I hate lying."

"Heh, times like this, I pity you, chère," Jackie replied with a smirk.

* * *

><p>Emil eyed Remy suspiciously when he ordered more drinks at the bar.<p>

"Planning on getting plastered tonight, Remy?" Emil asked.

"The thought had crossed my mind," Remy replied, sounding dismal.

"Uh huh," Emil said. "Feel like picking up a one night stand?"

"Nah. Too much effort," Remy replied, and then nodded to the bartender as he handed him his drinks. "Merci."

"Wanna hit the Rising Sun instead then?"

Remy took a good long swig of his beer before answering: "Yeah, sure. I could do with a good lay."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that."

* * *

><p>Ryan breathed out slowly, then looked over at Marie who was lying on the bed next to him.<p>

"Wow," he said.

Marie grinned. "Glad you enjoyed yourself, sugar."

"I did I..." he began then asked awkwardly: "Umm, did you?"

"Mmmhmm."

"That's not exactly the enthusiastic response I was looking for," Ryan said.

Marie chuckled and kissed his cheek. "I've had sex five times—including this time—and only once did I ever orgasm. This was not it."

"Oh... I'm sorry. Did you—"

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about," Marie assured him gently. "Not all us girls are orgasm machines like Jackie is—if even half her stories are true."

Ryan laughed and Marie grinned at him.

"Maybe another time," she said. "After all, I had to sleep with my ex four times before I did. No big deal."

"Okay."

"So," Marie said, wrapping her arms around him to cuddle him. "How does it feel not to be a virgin any more?"

"Good," Ryan replied. "It feels good. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

* * *

><p>Jackie and Marie stood at the edge of the field where the United Guilds Anniversary party was being held, and took in the sights: Amongst other things there was an adult-sized jumping castle, human foosball, a bucking bull ride, a velcro wall and horizontal bungee. When the girls made their way inside the nearby hall, in addition to the buffet tables, and chairs, there were also pinball and arcade machines, air hockey, pool and ping pong tables everywhere.<p>

"Well," said Jackie. "I guess now we know what Papa meant by a games party."

"Yep," Marie said with a nod.

"Jackie, Marie," Remy said, coming up behind them. "Excusez-moi one moment, Sunshine."

Jackie turned her head while Remy greeted Marie with a big kiss.

"Having a second childhood, Remy?" Marie asked after he pulled away.

"Jumping castles are fun," Remy replied, grinning, and keeping his arms wrapped securely around her waist.

"This is true," Marie replied.

"Oh, good Jacqueline," Bella Donna said, sauntering up to them with a new man on her arm. "You're here."

"Bonjour," Jackie replied, looking over her mother's partner. "Who's the stud?"

Remy snorted. Bella Donna ignored him.

"This is William," Bella Donna said. "Will, cher, this is my daughter, Jacqueline, and Remy's mistress, Marie."

"Hello," William said, giving them a nod.

"So, Marie," Bella Donna said, her eyes landing firmly on Marie's. "Has Remy bought you a car yet?"

"Oh, umm, yeah," Marie said, knowing without a doubt that Remy was smirking right now, and didn't even have to look at him to confirm it.

"Jealous?" Remy asked Bella Donna, his chin resting on Marie's shoulder.

"Hardly," Bella Donna replied.

Remy shrugged. "Doesn't matter. No one cares what you think, anyway."

"So Marie," Bella Donna said sweetly. "You have your car now. I think that's suitable compensation for having to put up with _him_ for trois years. It's time you dropped him like the garbage he is."

"Nah," Marie said before Remy could reply on her behalf. "I'm aiming for a condo."

Jackie laughed and gave Marie a nudge.

"Shh!" she said. "You're not supposed to tell Papa about your scheme to exploit him."

"You can have a condo if you want, ma chère," Remy said. "Hell, you can have deux."

"The problem with a condo," Bella Donna said, "is that when you are ready to ditch him, he knows where you live. And changing the locks won't help."

"Oh well," Marie said with a slight shrug. "He does have this good vibration feature I really like."

Remy chuckled and Jackie forced herself to keep a straight face, even though inwardly she was cringing and trying to get rid of the bad images that conjured up.

"Oui, chère," said Bella Donna. "That's the Parkinson's disease at work."

"Better the shakes then incontinence," Remy replied evenly.

"You might be in luck, Marie," said Bella Donna, her eyes still on Remy. "If he has the shakes, you probably could change the locks on that condo of yours and he wouldn't be able to pick it after all."

"So, Will, was it?" Remy said, his eyes also remaining on Bella Donna. "Do you take off her adult diapers, or does she do it herself?"

"So Marie, is he still be able to satisfy you sexually?" Bella Donna asked. "It strikes me that the Parkinson's may not have just affected his fingers."

"Hey Will," Remy retorted. "Into scat are you?"

"I most certainly am not!" William objected.

"Just ignore them," Jackie said shortly. "They always act like bickering children. Come on, Marie, let's go play air hockey."

"Okay," Marie said, and allowed herself to be dragged off by Jackie.

"Now look what you've done," Bella Donna said to Remy. "You've upset your daughter."

"You started it. Why can't you just stop nagging Marie about leaving me?" Remy demanded.

"The girl can do better," Bella Donna replied primly.

"You say that like I haven't figured it out already," Remy said, then turned his back and walked away.

"What was that about?" William asked, turning to Bella Donna.

"Never you mind."

"Uh huh. You wouldn't actually be jealous, would you?"

"Don't be utterly ridiculous," Bella Donna replied scornfully. "I am merely concerned for Jacqueline. Marie is her room mate at college."

"Oh."

Remy and Bella Donna avoided each other after that, at least, until they had to get back together again for their speech and a toast. In his usual fashion, Emil wished them a happy anniversary after the toast, and shouted for them to kiss. Jackie was a little surprised when it was Bella Donna who initiated the kiss, rather than Remy, and a call of "whooo" went up when the kiss went on just a little longer than normal.

Remy frowned at Bella Donna slightly when she pulled away.

"Tongue, Belle?" he queried her quietly. "Haven't gotten that from you in years."

"Maybe you should have stopped smoking years ago," Bella Donna replied haughtily.

"Somehow I doubt my smoking was the only thing keeping us apart," Remy said coolly.

They soon parted, and Remy found an excuse to steal Marie away from Jackie. He felt like he'd hardly seen her all party. While Bella Donna chatted with William and a few of the others who felt they were too good for 'childish games', Remy and Marie played ping pong.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask," Marie said as the ball bounced to and fro over the table. "Are Jean-Luc and Carole here? I don't recall ever seeing them here..."

"Non, they don't come," Remy replied. "Carole knows what we do, but she prefers to, hmm, distance herself from that side of things."

"Ahh. Fair enough."

Jackie stopped to watch Emil and Sy play pool.

Emil straightened up and grinned at his son after he sunk the black. "Not bad, Sy. You're getting better."

"Eh," Sy said with a shrug. "I don't much care for pool anyway."

"You worry me when you quote your mère."

"I know, that's why I like to quote her as frequently as possible."

"Well, I think the winner deserves a reward," Jackie said, sauntering over to Emil.

"So do I, actually," said Emil, grinning at her. "What did you have in mind?"

"What do you think about pissing off Papa and Maman?" Jackie asked, indicating her parents with fingers and head.

"Oh I'm always up for that."

"That's what I thought."

And to Sy's utter horror and shock, Jackie wrapped her arms around Emil and kissed him right on the lips. Emil didn't seem to know how to react.

"Jackie!" Sy exclaimed. "That's mon père!"

Sy was loud enough that heads turned. Emil finally registered that his best friends daughter (albeit hot daughter) was tonguing him, and had her hand on his behind. He grabbed at her in an attempt to push her off.

"Emil Lapin!" Bella Donna's screech could be heard in all corners of the room.

Emil finally pulled himself away with a look of utter panic on his face. He completely missed the seductively coy look Jackie gave him, because Remy was stalking towards him with a look of murderous rage on his face.

"Merde!" was all Emil could say before bolting out of the hall as fast as he could.

Jackie laughed as Remy chased after him.

"That's disgusting," Sy said, looking at her, well, disgustedly. "You are washing your mouth out thoroughly before you kiss me again."

"Jacqueline Armelle Boudreaux-LeBeau," Bella Donna said tersely, stalking towards her through the crowd who had wisely left open a nice, wide path for her. "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Pissing you off," Jackie replied, softly but smugly. "Oh look, it worked. Excusez-moi, I have to go rescue Emil now, and finish pissing Papa off."

Bella Donna let Jackie go after Remy and Emil. She wanted to say more, but she didn't care to make any more of a scene than had already been made.

Meanwhile Remy chased after Emil outside. Emil dodged his fellow Guild members, attempted to blend into crowds, cursed his red hair when it didn't work, tried to hide in the human foosball blow-up table, and failed miserably. On the bright side, Remy hadn't charged any playing cards.

Emil dove into the jumping castle, perhaps not the smartest move, as there was only one entrance. Remy dove after him, and grabbed him by the shirt.

"Hey Marie," Jackie said, for Marie had caught up with Jackie when she headed out after them. "Papa's chasing Emil around. I think this is conclusive proof that he's gay."

Marie hid her laugh behind her hand and Remy turned his head to lock eyes with his smirking daughter.

"What were you kissing him for?" Remy demanded.

"To piss you off. Oh look, it worked," Jackie replied stonily. "Guess now you know how I feel when you kiss Marie."

Remy let go of Emil, looking deflated.

"Jackie," Emil said, edging away from Remy. "Next time you invite me to help you annoy your parents, the answer's no."

"Aww okay, then, cher," Jackie said coyly. "By the way, you have a nice ass."

"Uhh, thanks," Emil replied, his eyes zipping anxiously between Jackie and Remy.

"Firm and plump—"

"Would you please stop flirting? I'm not entirely convinced your papa isn't going to kill me."

But Remy made no move to punish Emil for Jackie's flirtations. He didn't even say a word. He just got off the jumping castle and walked away.

* * *

><p>Marie didn't like the way the things had gone down after the party. Remy had acted like himself amongst others, but around herself and Jackie, he was quiet and subdued, and Marie found herself somewhat concerned. So a couple of days later, Marie borrowed Jackie's car while she was busy working on a paper that was due the next day. She went to the shops, made her purchase, and then gave Remy a call.<p>

"I was just wondering if you're at home at the moment?" Marie asked once they were past the pleasantries. "I've got something I wanna give you."

"You got me a present?" Remy asked, sounding amused.

"Yep."

"Well, umm, you can come around if you want. But I should warn you that I'm currently naked and have no intention of getting dressed."

"As long as you have a towel."

"I think I can arrange that."

"Good. I'll be there in a few."

Thus is was a car drive and a knock on the front door later, that Marie was inside Remy's house with a bag behind her back, facing Remy wearing nothing but a towel around his waist.

"This is my present to you, chère," Remy said and gestured to himself. "You get to see me in my all-but-naked glory."

"That 'all' is very important," Marie replied with a nod. "Otherwise it becomes 'butt naked' and I just don't want to see that."

Remy chuckled.

"Okay," Marie said childishly. "Hold out your hands and close your eyes, and you will get a big surprise!"

"This isn't going to involve spitting in my hands, is it?" Remy asked as he held out his hands and closed his eyes.

"Would it bother you if it did?" Marie asked, fishing out the first package from the plastic bag she's been hiding—or attempting to hide—behind her back.

"Actually, no, now you mention it."

Marie laughed and placed the package on his hands. "Open!"

Remy opened his eyes and laughed, seeing a G.I. Joe action figure in his hands.

"What's this for, chère?" Remy asked, grinning at her.

"For you to play with, of course," Marie replied, grinning back at him. "Your favourite toy growing up was a hammer, indeed. Bah! Oh, and you can't have a hero without a villain, so to go with Duke, we have the Cobra Commander."

Remy laughed again as Marie placed the second package on top of the first.

"And because it's you," Marie went on, fishing out the last package from the back. "We have Scarlett, so you can have a woman who kicks ass, or a damsel in distress. Whatever suits your fancy."

"You really didn't have to," Remy replied.

"Ha! You don't fool me for a second, Swamp Rat," Marie said, smirking and wagging a finger at him. "I've got you all figured out."

"Oh yeah?" Remy asked, looking at her in amusement.

"Yeah, you were an adult growing up, and now that you're an adult, you're trying to be a kid," Marie said in a serious tone that didn't match the delighted expression on her face. "Come on, jumping castles? Laser tag and plaster painting? You're just making up for all those kids birthday parties you never had."

Remy burst out laughing.

"Now you be a good boy, and play with these," Marie said, patting the pile of action figures still on Remy's hands. "That will involve actually taking them out of the packets. You're not allowed to keep them in the packets like certain guys I know at college who have a thing about 'mint condition'. And, if you're a good boy, I'll get you some more later."

"Oooh goody."

"Okay, I'll get out of your hair now, and let you play with your new toys. And umm, hey," Marie said, suddenly feeling awkward as she tucked a lock of white hair behind her ear. "About what happened with Jackie—"

"Don't worry about it," Remy said abruptly.

He turned his back on her and put his new toys on the cabinet.

"I just thought you should know that Jackie was kind of planning that for awhile now," Marie told him. "As a way to annoy you _and_ Bella Donna. The whole 'now you know what I feel part' was just a...a bonus. I think she was annoyed after the whole Parkinson's disease/incontinence argument."

"Either way, she was still mad," Remy replied shortly. "And she had every right to be."

"I just thought I'd let you know it wasn't totally directed at you," Marie said.

"Yeah, I'm sure Bella Donna was fuming."

"To say nothing of terrifying Emil and grossing Sy out," Marie added wryly.

Remy chuckled. He started to move away from the cabinet—his back still to Marie at that point—when the towel managed to catch on one of the drawer handles. He only caught one corner of the towel in time—the rest fell, giving Marie a most unexpected view of his bare behind. Marie's eyes went wide as Remy scrambled to cover himself up again.

"What on earth happened to you?" Marie exclaimed, horrified. "Your butt looks like minced meat!"

"It's nothing," Remy grumbled in reply, holding and tying the towel back into place.

"Nothing?" Marie repeated incredulously. "You have welts and blisters on your butt! I'd hardly call that nothing!"

"It's nothing. I'm fine," he said tersely.

"It doesn't look fine to me."

"Just drop it, okay?"

"Remy—"

"Marie. Leave it," Remy said, glaring at her. "I'm fine, and it's none of your business anyway."

Marie pressed her lips together and glared back at him.

"Fine then. Juuuust fine," she said finally. "I'm so sorry my concern for your well-being is such a huge burden to you. I'll go. I hope you get infected."

"Marie," Remy said urgently, catching her wrist on her way past him. "Umm, don't tell anyone okay?"

"Oh don't you worry," Marie replied hotly, reefing her hand away from him. "I'm just going to forget this whole thing ever happened."

Although in reality it only took Marie a couple of seconds to reach the door, for Remy those few seconds seemed to last minutes. Her words had hit a chord in him and he said her name once more as her hand began to turn the door knob.

"What?" Marie snapped back at him.

"I like getting spanked."

Marie stopped and frowned as she processed this new information. She let go of the door knob and looked back at Remy, who was avoiding her eyes and looking rather uncomfortable.

"You like being spanked," she repeated.

"Uh huh."

"Umm," Marie said, and gestured towards his backside. "Doesn't that seem a little excessive?"

Remy shrugged. "Felt good at the time."

"How can that possibly feel good at all?" It was a genuine query.

"With the right stimuli you can trick your body into thinking something painful is actually pleasurable," Remy said. "I've been seeing a dominatrix for ages now."

"One of your mistresses?" Marie asked.

"Non, I've been hiring her."

"You _paid_ someone to turn your butt into minced meat?" Marie asked incredulously.

"Why?" Remy asked loftily. "You offering to do it for free?"

"Sorry, not my thing," Marie replied, and shook her head. "You know, all those times I said I wasn't going to spank you 'cause I thought you might like it, I was just joking."

Remy grinned at her. "And now you know you were right all along."

Marie cracked a smile. "You sure you're okay? That doesn't look too comfortable to sit on."

"Why do you think I'm walking about naked?" Remy asked. "Well, mostly naked."

"Because you liked being in the nude?" Marie suggested.

"Well, there is that," Remy conceded, then shrugged. "I'll be fine in a week. Look, Marie... You said, you were going to forget about this, right?"

Remy's anxiety grew when, instead of a solemn promise confirming she wouldn't tell anyone, Marie's face lit up with delight. Panic was just starting to set in that he made a huge mistake in telling her, when she closed the distance between them, wrapped her arms around him and kissed his lips. He kissed her back and his anxiety shifted to confusion. Marie was in the habit (whether she realised it or not) of giving him physical affection any time he 'did something good'. Whatever he had done, it must have been really, amazingly awesome, because the kiss was going on and on, and he was getting tongue and everything.

When at last Marie's mouth left his, he could see tears shining in her eyes.

"Don't worry, sugar," she said, her serious tone a little skewed by a voice that was starting to choke up, "I won't tell a soul. I'll take this secret to the grave. And any time you want to talk about it, you can talk to me and I won't pass judgement or anything. I don't promise I'll ever understand why you like doing this to yourself, but I won't make you feel bad about it ever."

Remy was silent for a moment, then lifted one of his hands to touch her hair.

"That's a lot more than I was asking, chère, but I appreciate it, thank you." he said softly, and his fingers grazed her cheek, touching the sole tear that ran down her face. "What's this?"

It was Marie's turn to look away, although on this occasion 'away' meant onto Remy's chest, which she traced over with her fingers as she spoke:

"I've got a few 'deep dark secrets' floating around in my head, but this is the first time anyone's ever voluntarily shared one with me," she said. "All the others I got by absorbing people. You have no idea how horrible it is, to absorb a secret from a friend, and then have to deal with them not entirely trusting you to keep that information to yourself, not happy that you even know at all. It's always the worst the first time I absorb someone; there's always this suspicion in their eye every time they look at me. It gets better over time, sure, but that doesn't make the transition any easier."

Remy was quiet as Marie lifted her head once more and caught his eyes.

"You have no idea how much this means to me," she said seriously, more tears threatening to fall. "The fact that someone—that you—trust me enough to trust me with something like this... This is the greatest gift you could ever give me, Remy. Not even a hundred cars could measure up to this."

"What about a hundred condos?" Remy asked, making a joke for lack of a better response.

Marie smiled. "Even better than that."

She kissed his lips once more.

"Is there anything I can get for you?" she asked. "Is there any cream or anything you need to use?"

Remy grinned at her despite himself. "You just want to touch my ass."

"Very funny, Swamp Rat."

"I'm fine, chère, honest," Remy said. "Thanks for the offer though."

"You're welcome," Marie replied, and finally let him go. "Okay, I'll be off now, and let you get comfy again."

"Okay."

Marie started for the door, then turned back to look at him. "Remy? Umm, when did we want to negotiate for the next dose of the Cure? I know we were going to wait until May this year..."

"Umm," Remy thought for a moment. "How does Saturday week do for you?"

"That's fine."

"Okay then. I'll pick you up at six, that way you don't have to ask for a lift from Jackie."

"Okay," Marie replied with a nod. "You don't mind keeping the car here until summer do you?"

"I already told you that was fine," Remy said. "That hasn't changed."

"Okay, thanks. I'll see you Saturday then."


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Jackie was waiting in the parking lot when Bella Donna arrived to pick her up for her birthday dinner. It was her twenty-second.

"Don't you think I'm getting a little old for these 'surprise dinners'?" Jackie asked as she got into the car.

"Complain when you have children of your own," Bella Donna replied, looking around. "Where's Marie tonight?"

"Night class," Jackie said.

"Ahh, that explains it," Bella Donna said as she drove out of the parking lot. "I thought all the cars here looked a little too tacky to be anything Remy would buy."

"All of them?" Jackie asked.

"Yours is the exception, of course," Bella Donna said quickly. "Now Jackie, about Emil—"

"It wasn't as creepy kissing him as I thought it was going to be—"

"Jackie!"

"Relax already. I'm not interested in him," Jackie replied with a dismissing wave of her hand. "Besides, Sy probably has way more stamina."

Bella Donna sighed and Jackie chuckled.

"Hey, you said something about a job?" Jackie asked.

"Ahh, oui," Bella Donna said. "We have a client who will be able to provide you with a position in the IT department for the company he works for in exchange for a significant discount on the cash payment. It has been made clear to him that should he decide to betray you, evidence shall appear that will expose him for the murder of his wife."

"And if he decides to rat me out in exchange for immunity?"

"He won't live long enough to enjoy it," Bella Donna replied blandly. "In any case, he'll only know that you're associated with the Guild in some manner; he won't know your true rank."

Jackie nodded.

* * *

><p>The following evening, as planned, Remy picked up Marie and brought her back to his place for their negotiation. Marie sat down on the lounge and Remy brought out drinks for them.<p>

"So, uhh," Marie said, as Remy sat down next to her. "How's umm... How are you feeling?"

Remy gave her an amused look. "I'm all healed up now. Did you want to see for yourself?"

"I'll take your word for it."

"Okay chère," Remy replied, grinning at her. "But if you ever decide you want me to drop my pants, all you have to do is ask."

"I'm sure of that."

"So," Remy said as he poured their drinks, "about your next dose of the Cure."

"To be honest," said Marie, reaching for her glass. "I'm not really sure what to offer. I don't even know how long I'm going to be in New Orleans when I come back after the summer."

"I thought of that," said Remy, leaning back in the lounge, glass in hand.. "Let's just not count dates any more. Still go out on them, of course, but not count them. That way, you can turn them down without feeling like your shirking your part of the bargain when you're busy, and I can ask you out whenever I want without it eating into the time I get to spend with you later."

Marie nodded thoughtfully. "That sounds reasonable."

"I think that overall we can turn our existing agreement into something more flexible," Remy went on seriously. "The rules were really only applicable in the beginning when you needed to know what I expected from you, and you needed to make it clear to me where the boundaries were. I'd say by now we know what the other wants and is comfortable with, and I think we can safely ditch the rules. At this point they're only good for manipulating the other, and I don't think either of us wants that."

"I'd agree with that," she said, after a sip of her drink. "I have to admit, Remy, a part of me was expecting you to ask me to move in with you. Or were you getting to that?"

Remy chuckled. "The thought did cross my mind, but ahh... After I first extended the invitation I realised that, well, I get a bit of Guild stuff through here occasionally, and you may not want to be exposed to that. The offer's still open, of course, but it's entirely up to you."

"Well, I appreciate the thought, and that you're not pushing the matter," Marie replied. "And... I have a small confession to make."

"Oh?" Remy asked mischievously. "Did you do something bad?"

"If you're going to put it like that, I'm not going to tell you," Marie said dryly.

"Aww. Okay, I'll behave."

Marie eyed Remy's grinning face suspiciously for a moment before she finally spoke again: "Last year you asked me to actually wear the lingerie you bought me. And I did... Except for the blue babydoll."

"Oh really?"

"It's not really something I'd sleep in, unless it was for a guy," Marie said, feeling awkward and avoiding his eyes. "Except that if I ever did wear the thing for a guy, I'd only end up thinking of you because...well, because you were the one who bought it."

"And because I'm sexy," Remy said. "It's okay, you can admit it."

Marie shot him a cynical look. "And I was thinking that maybe I'd bring it back here—"

"And if I was good you'd wear it for me?" Remy finished, his eyes lighting up hopefully.

"Something like that."

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy."

Marie laughed and Remy grinned at her.

"So, is that everything?" Remy asked when Marie had recovered herself. "One dose of the Cure for a semester or deux with you as my mistress, dropping all rules and restrictions on the proviso that we've got a good enough relationship now that they're no longer necessary?"

"Sounds good," Marie replied with a nod, and put her now-empty glass down on the coffee table.

"Alright then," Remy said and frowned slightly when Marie stood up. "Where are you off to, chère?"

"The bedroom," Marie said, sauntering towards the stairs.

"Not that I'm complaining," Remy said, hurriedly putting down his own glass and going after her. "But why?"

"Making out, of course," Marie said cheekily. "It's how all our negotiations end."

"Oh, well," Remy said, following her up the stairs. "Far be it for me to spit in the face of tradition."

* * *

><p>The next few weeks felt like they were dragging for Jackie. Graduation was so close, and yet it had never felt so far away. The stress was playing havoc on her powers too, including one near miss when Marie almost walked in on her. Jackie was quite proud of the fact that despite living together, Marie had never seen one of her spells, and planned on keeping it that way.<p>

There was one particular week in May that was going to be utterly full of exams and papers, and Jackie decided that the best way to relieve stress so she could actually study properly, was by inviting a bunch of her swinging friends over. Marie had reacted to the news by asking Ryan out on a date. Jackie was kind enough to let Marie use her car—Ryan's was in the shop.

Marie and Ryan's date went smoothly enough, although mostly they only talked about school, their own papers and exams being at the forefront of their minds too. A dinner date turned into a study date, and finally when it got too late to even think, they moved onto more physical pleasures. Ryan's room mate, Luke, was out for the evening and Ryan didn't expect him back until the wee hours of the morning—if at all.

At the height of passion, Ryan came.

"Oh, Remy," Marie moaned softly, and came as well.

Ryan's elation at having gotten his girlfriend to orgasm (finally!) was severely dampened by the realisation that it was not his name she had called out. As Marie lay beside him, catching her breath in post coital bliss, Ryan found himself running over all the 'Remy's he knew. There was his cousin Remy, but Marie wouldn't know him. There was Remy doing the Chemistry major, and another Remy doing Computer Science and... he was pretty sure there was another Remy... Oh right, wasn't that Jackie's father's name? Well, it couldn't be him: Even if he wasn't married he was still way too old for her.

Ryan turned his head at Marie's touch and found her smiling at him. He couldn't smile back.

"Hey," she said softly.

"Who's Remy?" Ryan asked.

"Huh?"

"Just then, when we were... And you were..." Ryan stopped and swallowed hard. "You said 'Remy'."

Marie felt like her heart had stopped. She hadn't, had she?

"I... I don't know what you're talking about," Marie said, a sick feeling welling up in her stomach.

"Just tell me the truth, Marie," Ryan said. "It's Remy what's-his-face—in Chemistry, isn't it?"

"Umm, no," Marie replied, pulling a face. "And what makes you so sure I didn't say 'Ryan'? 'Ryan', 'Remy', they kind of sound alike. Close enough, anyway."

"Marie, if you're seeing someone else, just tell me," he pleaded.

"Ryan, I'm not having sex with anyone but you," Marie said firmly. "I cannot believe we're even having this conversation."

"_You_ can't believe it? _I_ can't believe it," Ryan retorted. "What am I supposed to think, Marie? You just called out some other guy's name while we were having sex—"

"You must have misheard," Marie said, desperately wanting it to be true.

"—and you're always insisting that we have an open relationship!" he exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, see this is exactly why," Marie snapped back at him. "I hate relationship drama, and here you are, practically accusing me of cheating on you."

"Which I can't actually do, because we're 'open'," Ryan replied cynically.

"Hey, if I was having sex with someone else—which I'm _not_—I would absolutely let you know," Marie insisted. "I wouldn't name names, but I'd consider that to be something you should know for health reasons if nothing else."

"Wouldn't name names, huh?" Ryan asked. "You did tonight."

Marie slapped him across the face and glared at him as she got up off the bed.

"I don't have to put up with this," she declared, looking for her clothes. "I don't know why you find it so much easier to believe I'm seeing some other guy than to even consider that you might have misheard."

"Ryan and Remy don't sound _that_ much alike," Ryan replied, rubbing his face and glaring back at Marie as she got dressed. "And maybe I wouldn't be so concerned if my _girlfriend_ would actually commit to an exclusive relationship."

"See these?" Marie said, gesturing to their piles of text books and notes. "That's why I didn't want to commit until _after _graduation. I _told_ you that when we got together. I _told_ you those were my terms. You didn't have to date me! And _now _look at us! Exams and papers coming out of our ears and we're fighting! This is exactly what I wanted to avoid."

"Marie—"

"No, just shut your face," Marie snapped at him, pushing her books and notes into her bag. "I don't want to hear it."

* * *

><p>While Marie did come home earlier than she expected, she hadn't expected Jackie's friends to still be over, so she certainly didn't expect to walk into her dorm room to find Jackie with five other people, all naked, and one of the girls giving one of the guys a blow job. Jackie looked up at Marie's exclamation and laughed when her room mate immediately turned her head and held up her hand to hide the view.<p>

"Why are y'all still here?" Marie asked, dropping her bag on the floor.

"It's only early," Jackie said, then glanced at the clock. "Oh okay, it's later than I thought. Hey, how'd things with you and Ryan go?"

"Crap. I don't want to talk about it. Are you guys going to be long?"

"Must have been the poker game," Jackie said musingly. "You wouldn't think it would take that long, but it always surprises me. Oh, umm, yeah, we're still being entertained by love dice."

"Love dice?" Marie repeated, still keeping her face averted. "Do I even want to know?"

"Oh they're lots of fun," Jackie said gleefully. "One die has actions; kiss, touch—"

"Blow," one of the guys put in.

"Stuff like that. And the other die has body parts."

"Like penis?" Marie asked dryly.

"Actually this particular set has a question mark on one side of the body die," Jackie told Marie mischievously. "So, wanna join us?"

"Umm, no," Marie said. "I'll pass."

"Okay, but we're going to be awhile."

Marie sighed. "Fine. I'll find somewhere else to stay the night."

"Suit yourself."

Marie retrieved her handbag and then headed back out into the night. She had no real destination in mind when she departed in Jackie's car once more, but it was of no surprise to her when she ended up in Remy's driveway, next to his car (he'd been keeping the car he'd given Marie in the garage). Initially Marie just sat in the car, but eventually she got out and knocked on the door.

There was no reply, why would there be? It was late, he was probably in bed. Certainly, he wasn't expecting her. Marie knocked again anyway and contemplated ringing him. She had no idea what she would even say to him.

Then the door opened and Marie's fist ended up doing the talking instead. No sooner than Remy said her name in inquiry, than her fist slammed into his face. He backed off into the house, rubbing his jaw, and Marie stalked after him.

"I hate you!" she shouted. "How could you do this to me?"

As quick as her burst of anger came, it left and Marie burst into tears. Remy stared at her, puzzled, and just a little relieved because crying meant that she probably wasn't upset at him for the thing he had initially thought she was angry with him about. He closed the door, then wrapped his arms around her, hoping he wasn't going to end up with another fist to the face.

It took time, and a good deal of charm and gentle handling, but Remy finally wheedled out of her the events of the evening. It was all he could do to stop himself from shouting with glee, whirling Marie around and kissing her in joy. She said 'Remy' while she was with Ryan; that was _his_ name! The implications of that little incident filled Remy with delight and excitement: Marie didn't hate him, it was quite the opposite.

None of this he let show, however, not with Marie soaking his trench coat with tears. His trench coat was literally the only thing he was wearing at that late hour, and only because he needed to put something on before answering the door. In between crying and talking, Remy managed to lead Marie to the lounge.

"Hey if it makes you feel any better," he said, gently. "I've done the same thing a few times, and been on the receiving end of it too."

Marie didn't reply, so Remy kept talking:

"Been slapped across the face. Heh, once she just laughed and called me 'George'," Remy said with a snicker. "Oh and once I was with one of Emil's ex's and she called me 'Emil'. Poor femme was mortified, and made me promise never to tell him. Not that I would have."

"I know you're trying to make me feel better," Marie began.

"But shut up?" Remy finished for her.

"Yeah."

Remy chuckled softly and Marie sighed and sniffed.

"I hate this," she said. "I hate lying to everyone. I hate stupid open relationships. You know the worst part of it? I kept thinking I could tell Ryan the truth. I'd even be able to do it without implicating Jackie."

"Even though everyone knows you see me regularly?" Remy asked skeptically.

"Well, we'll never know now, will we?" Marie said glumly. "I can't tell him now. Nooo, I have to stick to the crap I spouted about not wanting my love life to interfere with my education."

Remy gave her a gentle squeeze. "Chère, you didn't tell anyone because you didn't want anyone to treat you like a prostitute. And let me tell you something about whores—"

"I don't want to hear any of your sex stories."

"—even the ones who choose that profession because they like the job use a pseudonym," Remy said seriously. "It's perfectly normal for you to want to protect yourself."

"Isn't there a way of doing that without lying to my friends?"

"Well, I guess the questions you have to ask yourself are 'why are you lying to them' and 'are they really your friends'."

Marie sniffed and wiped some tears off her cheek. "I guess when this all started, I didn't really know my friends here well enough. And the ones I did know, I didn't trust not to do exactly what I didn't want them to do."

"And your friends in the X-men?"

"Not one of them has ever supported my original decision to get the Cure," Marie replied bitterly. "I slept with Bobby and even he... Well, I think that was part of the problem, actually. I think he felt like I got the Cure for his sake. Logan's been the one who's been the most accepting and even he was disappointed. Not one of them would accept my decision to keep taking the Cure, regardless of what I was paying for it. So damn easy for them to sit on their high horse and criticise me. Not one of them has to deal with voices in their heads or is denied human touch or anything."

"Plus all the suspicious looks whenever you absorbed them," Remy added, remembering their conversation from a few weeks ago.

"Well," Marie said ruefully. "Not all of them were like that. At least not all the time anyway. Mostly after I let little things slip accidentally. Sometimes it's really, really hard to tell the difference between something they told me and something I absorbed, but only ever with little things. With the big things it's way easier to tell the difference."

"But it's the little things that make people nervous about what big things you know about, hein?" Remy asked.

"Yeah," Marie said, then sniffed and smiled a little. "My X-men friends really are good people. I mean, I know they're just concerned for my wellbeing and everything, I just wish they were able to see things from my perspective once in awhile. The only people who could were Jean and the Professor, and they're both dead."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Marie sighed and for a time there was quiet. Marie simply didn't know what else to say. The idea that she might be falling for Remy—well, she was the one who said that she'd date him for real if he wasn't married (and Jackie's father), so maybe she shouldn't have been so surprised. She had thought she was doing okay at keeping her feelings in check though, and she did love Ryan. Unbidden the line "you can't choose who you fall in love with" popped into her head, and Marie shuddered. She couldn't remember where she heard it, but it was the last idea she wanted haunting her right now.

Evidentially Remy thought Marie's shudder meant she was cold, for he pulled her closer into him and rubbed her bare arm. It was only now that Marie realised that there wasn't a whole lot of padding between them.

"Umm, Remy?" she asked awkwardly. "Are umm...are you wearing anything under your coat?"

Remy grinned mischievously at her. "No. Wanna see my flasher impression?"

"Pass."

"Heh," Remy said and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Probably in poor taste after tonight anyway, to look upon the incredible physique of the man whose name you called out in error. Not that I blame you. I am a fine specimen of a man. I'd probably call out my name too."

Marie smacked his arm. "Arrogant Swamp Rat."

"Aww chère, if you wanted to give me a spanking, you should have just said so," Remy said, grinning at her. "Did you want me to lie in your lap or over a table? Actually over the back of the lounge might work."

"Are you going to ask me that every time I hit you?" Marie asked.

"Possibly," Remy replied, his eyes sparkling with mischief. "Would you like to use your hand or an implement? There's a hairbrush upstairs you can use, or I could always get my belt."

Maire sighed. "This is not my night. First I call out your name instead of Ryan's. Then I walk in Jackie's little game of 'love dice' with her and her naked friends and now—"

"Love dice, hein?" Remy asked. "I have a few sets of those."

"Of course you do."

"Well, different dice for different company," Remy said. "Some dice are more explicit than others. I have one set that doesn't bother with words: it just has sexual positions."

Marie groaned and buried her head in her hands.

"What?" Remy asked. "It's a fun way of spicing up the sex life. Although, they are intended for partners, not groups like I guess Jackie's doing."

"I haven't seen that many dicks flopping out since the last time I absorbed Bobby and accidentally walked into the guys locker room," Marie muttered.

Remy chuckled.

"Not funny, Swamp Rat," Marie said, stopping herself just before she hit him again. "One of them was getting a blow job. I'm going to have that image imprinted on my mind forever."

"Hmm," Remy said, catching her hand in his and weaving his fingers with hers. "You'd probably just use your hand wouldn't you?"

Marie was about to tell Remy off for returning to the whole 'spanking' thing, when a thought occurred to her and she narrowed her eyes at him. "You _like_ it when I hit you, don't you?"

Remy's eyes stayed focused on their hands. "It's a possibility."

"Why?"

"Maybe I'm masochistic."

Marie clicked her tongue in her mouth.

"Maybe," she said dubiously. "But I have a feeling it's more complicated than that. I mean, you did tell me no violent touching in the beginning."

"And look how many times you broke that rule," he said, grinning at her.

"Hmph, look at how many times you touched my boobs, breaking another rule," Marie retorted.

Remy lifted his hand and cupped her face. "I'd say it evens out."

He started to move in to kiss her, but she turned her head. Belatedly Remy pulled back and cleared his throat.

"So, uhh," he said, "you should probably sleep in Jackie's room tonight."

"You don't want me to sleep in yours?" Marie asked, surprised. "Okay, who are you and what have you done with Remy?"

Remy chuckled. "Aww, chère, I just think it would be poor taste to well, jump into bed with me—even if we're not having sex—after what happened with Ryan tonight. I want you to still have a good opinion of yourself in the morning."

Marie smiled brightly at him.

"Well, I'm not sure I have such a high opinion of myself now, but...thank you," she said softly. "You know Remy, every now and then you do something that makes me think you're the sweetest, most loving, considerate guy in the world."

"And the rest of the time?"

"You're a complete jackass."

Remy chuckled.

* * *

><p>It was mid morning by the time Marie got up. It was strange waking up in Jackie's room, not just for the unfamiliarity, but also for just how little there was in it. Marie realised that Jackie didn't stay here that often, though, which probably explained it.<p>

She dressed and made her way downstairs, and found Remy in the kitchen.

"Morning chère," he said. "That was good timing; I just finished making breakfast."

"Oh?" Marie inquired, looking interested as she sat down at the bench.

"Strawberry crepes."

"Sounds yummy."

Remy chuckled. He finished preparing the crepes and then handed her a plate of two. "Bon appétit."

"Merci," Marie replied with a grin.

Remy grinned back at her and joined her at the bench with his own plate.

"So," he said, "what's the plan for the day?"

"Go home," Marie replied. "Give Jackie her car back. Study my brains out."

"Hmm, I could be wrong, but I think your brains will serve you better in your head," Remy said, grinning at her.

"That's an interesting comment coming from you," Mare said mischievously. "It's not like _you_ keep your brains in your head."

Remy chuckled. "Do you know what you're going to do about Ryan?"

Marie was quiet from a moment and chewed thoughtfully. She had no idea that Remy was mentally begging 'please say you're going to break up with him'.

"I don't know," she said finally. "I guess I'm going to see how things play out. I really like Ryan."

Remy looked down at his breakfast under the guise of making his next mouthful.

"He's an absolute sweetheart," Marie went on, oblivious to how Remy was taking the news. "He's smart and kind...and I treated him like crap last night. You know the stupid thing?"

"What?" Remy asked, pretending to sound more interested, or at least happier, than he really was.

"He thinks he's lucky 'cause he gets to date me," Marie said, looking straight ahead and sounding bitter, "when it's really the other way around."

"I don't know, chère," Remy replied. "If I was Ryan, I'd consider myself lucky too."

Marie gave him a slight smile and returned to her breakfast. As Remy emptied his plate, he couldn't help but curse that he was so close and yet so far away. Why couldn't she just admit that she liked him, break off everything with Ryan, and be with him instead?

Abruptly, the silence was broken by Marie's mobile phone singing _"she's one of those girls, nothing but trouble", _and Remy laughed to himself when Marie's first words when she answered it were "Hi Jackie."

"Jackie wondering where you are, hein?" Remy asked when Marie hung up.

"Yep," Marie replied. "She needs her car, so I should get going."

"Heh," Remy said with a slight grin. "I told you, you needed a car."

Marie poked her tongue out at him. "Don't rub it in, Swamp Rat. Oh, before I go, I should probably get that dose of the Cure."

"Ahh, good idea," Remy replied with a nod. "Also, I have to ask, what's that ring tone you've got?"

"Huh? Oh," Marie said with a giggle and started going through the menu on her phone. "It's the chorus from Avril Lavigne's 'She's One of Those Girls'. The song itself is about girls who only date guys for their money, but the chorus on its own reminds me of Jackie, so I have it set for her when she calls me."

Marie hit another button on her phone and Remy listened as the music played:

_"She's one of those girls,  
>Nothing but trouble,<br>Just one look and now you're seeing double,  
>Before you know it she'll be gone,<br>Off to the next one,  
>She's so good that you won't see it coming,<br>She'll take you for a ride and you'll be left with nothing,  
>You'll be broken, she'll be gone,<br>Off to the next one."_

Remy laughed and Marie grinned at him.

"So," he said. "What ring tone have you got for me?"

Marie pressed a few more buttons and then smirked at him as the next song clip played:

_"You walked into the party like you were walking onto a yacht,  
>Your hat strategically dipped below one eye,<br>Your scarf it was apricot,  
>You had one eye in the mirror as you watched yourself gavotte,<br>And all the girls dreamed that they'd be your partner,  
>They'd be your partner, and... <em>

_You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you,  
>You're so vain, I'll bet you think this song is about you,<br>Don't you? Don't You?"_

Remy poked his tongue out at Marie, recognising Carly Simon's "You're So Vain". Marie chuckled.

"I'll go get you your dose now," he said dryly.

"Well, you did ask, sugar," Marie called after him, as he got up and headed towards the door on the other side of the dining room.

"Oui, I did!" he replied agreeably, and Marie knew from his tone he was more amused than annoyed by it.

Still, after Remy closed the door behind him, Marie frowned to herself. If she recalled correctly, that door led to the laundry. He kept the Cure in the laundry? She hesitated for a moment, then quietly walked over and carefully, slowly opened up the door. The laundry was empty. There was another door—one that led to the outside—so Marie figured he probably went outside (although that only deepened the mystery), and went back inside the kitchen.

When Remy returned, he found Marie washing up the breakfast things.

"You didn't need to do that, ma chère," he said.

Marie shrugged and put the last item in the rack. "I figured I should make myself useful while I was waiting."

"Well, thank you."

They sat down at the dinner table, and with tender care, Remy dabbed her arm with the rubbing alcohol and gave her the injection. As usual, he blew up the evidence when he was done.

"Working?" he asked her.

"Yep," Marie replied with a smile.

"Bon," he said, cupped her face in his hands and kissed her.

* * *

><p>"Where'd you go last night?" Jackie asked when Marie finally arrived back at the dorm.<p>

"Oh, I just went to your dad's place," Marie replied as she handed the keys over.

"Why?"

"Well," Marie said with a slight smile, "you're the one who suggested I should try extorting things from him, and not only does he have comfy beds, he can also cook. I had strawberry crepes for breakfast this morning, and they were good."

"Okay, I can't argue there," said Jackie, nodding. "It is true that Papa can cook much better food than anything they whip up here."

Marie chuckled and Jackie took her leave. Marie felt a little bad about twisting the truth, but she knew that Jackie wouldn't want to know about her calling Ryan 'Remy' last night any more than she wanted to tell her. It just seemed better for everyone involved that she kept quiet on that score.

* * *

><p>Soon the dreaded week was over, and to Jackie's mind that signalled the beginning of the end of her college career. There was only one way to celebrate, and that was with a huge pre-graduation party. She invited everyone from every group she hung out with, and actually located a place they could all go, which was secluded enough that they wouldn't be bothered by pesky things like security, police or other authority figures.<p>

Most important, to Jackie, was the mud wrestling pit she organised. She had found the odd occasion to go mud wrestling on her own, but this was going to be the first time that Marie would be there as well. In preparation, Marie (and others) helped Jackie set up.

"Got enough lights?" Marie asked, looking at the mud wrestling pit.

Jackie grinned and leaned into her. "Let's just say, not all of these are normal lights and I know ways of screwing up video recording."

"Ahh," Marie said, then glanced at Jackie. "I didn't think of that."

"Good thing one of us was thinking."

Eventually people started arriving. The music was turned up and the party began.

When Jackie decided it was dark enough, she invited people to start the mud wrestling (she also made a point of saying that for every girl fight, there had to be a guy fight, and yes she would enforce it). Marie watched a couple of matches, somewhat unimpressed. She realised the point was to get muddy, but the way the girls fought just came across as awkward.

Still, during the second guy fight, Marie let Jackie know she was ready. After the guys were done, Marie and Jackie got into the pit, ankle-deep in muddy water, and their fight began. The mud made it harder than normal to move. It felt like one of their normal sparring matches, Marie decided, aside from the setting and the lack of clothing... Okay maybe it wasn't _that_ much like one of their sparring sessions.

Marie was the first of the two to hit the mud, and she wasted little time in kicking Jackie's feet from under her and dragging her down too. There were knees, elbows and fists everywhere, none of that silly slapping nonsense Marie had been disdainful of earlier.

"Wow, they're really getting into it, huh?" Elise said to her boyfriend, Mason.

"You never saw them in the gym," he replied, his eyes watching them far more closely than Elise appreciated. "They're vicious."

Their three minutes were up before they knew it, and Jackie (the victor) and Marie left the pit, covered in mud from head to toe. They went off to the side to wash off.

"So," said Jackie as she sprayed herself with the hose. "Was that fun, or was that fun?"

"That was fun," Marie replied, washing her arms in a bucket of water.

"Would you do it again?"

Marie shrugged. "Maybe. I probably wouldn't go out of my way though."

When they came back, Jackie was somewhat annoyed to find out that certain people had decided to do another female match when no males had put their hand up for one.

"Oh we're having another male match," Jackie insisted. "And if no one volunteers _right now_, I will nominate you."

Her proclamation was met with silence from the guys, and a fair bit of cheering from the girls, right up until one guy shouted: "Mud wrestling's for girls!"

"Right," Jackie said, locating him and dragging him into the pit. "You just volunteered."

The guy did attempt to struggle, but Jackie's knowledge of fun things like 'pressure points' was too good, and he found himself unwittingly in the pit despite his protests. Jackie looked around, and then grinned at Mason.

"Oh Mason..." she said in a sing-songy voice.

"Aww, man, do I have to?" Mason asked.

"Yep," Elise said, giving him a push.

"Mason! Mason!"

"Yeah Mason!" shouted one of the girls. "Destroy the sexist prick!"

Mason sighed, pulled off his shirt (a cheer went up, as well as a few wolf-whistles), and removed other articles of clothing and items he didn't want to get muddy. He gave all these to Elise for safe-keeping and then got into the pit.

Three minutes later, Mason emerged from the pit, muddy, but victorious.

* * *

><p>Bella Donna sat next to Remy, in amongst a large group of people who were filling up the stands around them. Way in front there was a stage with a podium, and the first few rows were empty.<p>

"Well," said Bella Donna, looking around. "Never once when Jackie was growing up did I ever imagine I'd be watching her graduate college."

Remy grinned. "I'm sure it's been a good experience for her. I bet she learned a lot, and I'm not just talking about her double major."

Bella Donna sniffed. "All I can say is that her plans better pay off."

"It ain't like the degrees won't come in useful if she doesn't get in," Remy replied dismissingly.

"If she doesn't get in, I'm blaming you," Bella Donna said haughtily.

"Of course you are."

"They do a background check after all, and I happen to remember a particular ex-girlfriend of yours I had to clean up after."

Remy glared at her, knowing she was talking about an undercover cop he'd dated previously.

"I had things well in hand," he said tersely.

"No," Bella Donna replied quietly but smugly, "she had _you_ 'in hand'."

"At least I never slept with a drug dealer," Remy said.

"No," Bella Donna said sweetly, "you slept with the drug addicts he was pimping out."

"Nah, I never sleep with anyone I suspect is diseased," Remy replied. "I learned my lesson with you."

"_You_ learned something?" Bella Donna said condescendingly. "So, the monkey does perform tricks after all."

"Better a monkey than an old dog."

"I hope you've washed your hands after all that merde flinging."

"I hope you've washed."

"I did, and I had a very handsome young man to 'help' me."

"So you did get that community nurse in after all," Remy said patronisingly. "I'm so proud of you. I know how hard it must have been to admit you needed help."

"You're proud of me?" Bella Donna repeated, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"That was badly phrased, wasn't it?"

Jackie was technically able to have two graduation ceremonies, by virtue of her double major, and with this in mind, she had given her parents the choice:

"I can either do deux ceremonies, and you can get watch me graduate and celebrate with me separately," Jackie had said. "Or I can do one ceremony and celebrate with both of you, which I would prefer, but not if you deux don't think you can last that long without fighting. Either way, Papa, should you cross paths with Marie, no flirting, at all. _Especially_, not in front of my friends."

Remy and Bella Donna had actually talked seriously about it, and agreed to the one ceremony. So far they had succeeded in no fighting in front of Jackie. Of course, they hadn't actually had a chance to talk to her yet, but that was besides the point.

The crowd had more or less settled when the graduates started filing in down the aisle and filling out the rows of chairs at the front. Remy offered Jackie a slight smile as she went by, and although she didn't acknowledge them, he knew she'd seen them.

The ceremony soon began and Bella Donna found herself bored out of her mind while the speakers rambled on. She all but tuned them out and was relieved when they started handing out the diplomas.

"Jacqueline Boudreaux."

Jackie strode proudly onto the stage to accept her two diplomas as her accomplishment was read out. She then walked to the other end of the stage to have her photo taken. For a brief moment, Jackie seriously considered dropping the illusion around her eyes—it would be nice to have a photo for this event with her true appearance—but reluctantly decided against it. Oh well, one of her parents could take a photo of her with her real eyes later.

After the ceremony was over, Jackie tracked down her parents, who greeted her with congratulations and a hug. Bella Donna had to admit, if there was only one thing she liked about hanging around with 'common folk', it allowed her to be more affectionate with her daughter than she normally would have been in public.

"Congratulations Sunshine," Remy said, smiling at her. "You did good."

"Thanks, Papa," Jackie replied, hugging him back tightly.


	22. Chapter 22

**AN:**

A big thanks to **Where the plum trees lie **for her assistance with Edmund's accent/slang. Any mistakes are my own.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 22<strong>

Remy opened his door to find Marie and Jackie on his doorstep. Marie had a couple of bags on her and Remy immediately reached forward to take one off her hands as they came in.

"Bonjour, Marie, Sunshine," he said.

"Hi Papa."

"Hey Remy."

The semester was finally over, and rather than getting picked up by the Blackbird as she had previous years, Marie was going to spend the night at Remy's place, then take off for New York in her new car in the morning. Marie had just told Kitty that she had a surprise for them and would be making her own way to New York. She was a little nervous about all this: partly because she was still apprehensive about the gift and her anticipation of her friends' reactions, and partly because she wasn't in the habit of long, interstate driving trips. In fact a part of her had been seriously considering asking Remy to come with her for the company, but wasn't sure how to deal with his presence when they actually got to Xaviers.

"So," said Jackie once Remy had closed the door behind them. "Where's this car I've heard so much about?"

"Ahh," Remy said, putting Marie's bag down on the lounge. "Right this way."

Marie put her things down on the lounge next to the bag Remy had placed there, and followed Remy and Jackie into the garage.

"Nice," Jackie said, looking it over. "But Papa, I have to ask, what is it with you and convertibles?"

"They're fun?" Remy replied. "And Marie likes 'em, dontcha, chère?"

"I have to admit," Marie said ruefully, leaning against the garage wall, "were I to buy myself a car, I'd probably get something like this."

"Ha!" Remy said, grinning at Jackie.

Jackie poked her tongue out at him, then turned to Marie.

"Well, chère," she said to her. "I hope you have a good trip back."

"Thanks," Marie replied, giving Jackie a hug. "Good luck with your house hunting."

"Merci," Jackie said, hugging her back. "Make sure you call me when you get back to N'Orleans."

"I will."

"Sure you don't want to come with us to Blue Bayou?" Remy asked when Jackie turned to him.

"Nah, I've got stuff I need to do today," Jackie replied. "You deux kids have fun."

Remy gave her a grin. "We shall."

Remy and Marie saw Jackie off, and then Remy turned to Marie.

"Ready to go?" he asked her.

"Yep." she replied, grabbing the smaller of her two bags.

"Bon. Your car or mine?"

Marie laughed. "I think we'd better take your car, sugar, seeing as how you know where we're going."

"Hmm, good point. My car it is."

It took them the better part of an hour to get to the water park and its companion, Dixie Landin'. As Dixie Landin' wasn't open until later, Remy and Marie went straight to the Blue Bayou.

"World's largest dark behemoth bowl, world's largest tornado slide, world's largest water racer, world's largest sled ride, world's largest in-line water slide," Marie said, reading off a pamphlet. "What is this? A size-does-matter convention?"

Remy chuckled.

"And what the hell is a behemoth bowl anyway?" she asked.

"VooDoo first it is, then," Remy replied, grinning at her.

Remy and Marie spent the next few hours going on the water rides. They left the water park after about two, had lunch at one of the local restaurants (Remy insisted the food was better) and then headed for Dixie Landin'.

"Come on," Marie said, tugging him towards the steel roller coaster. "I wanna ride the Ragin' Cajun."

"What really?" Remy asked. "Right now?"

"No, next year," Marie replied sarcastically. "Of course right now."

"In front of everyone?"

Marie turned and gave Remy an odd look. "Umm, of course in front of everyone, or at least or all other people going on the ride too."

"Non," Remy said shaking his head. "This Ragin' Cajun only has room for one rider."

"Huh?" Marie said, frowning at him.

Remy smiled knowingly back at her. Finally Marie twigged and smacked his arm.

"Remy!" she exclaimed disgustedly. "I'm talking about the roller coaster, not you!"

"My mistake."

"Mistake my sexy southern ass."

Remy put his hand on her behind. "Oh no, chère, I could never mistake your sexy southern ass for anything but your sexy southern ass."

"I'll mistake you for something in a minute."

"Oooh," Remy replied boyishly. "Can you mistake me for a single guy, about twenty-two, twenty-three; with red and black eyes?"

Marie paused and looked back at Remy with a raised eyebrow. "You want me to mistake you for Jackie's long-lost twin brother?"

"Yeah, that'll do."

Marie giggled despite herself.

* * *

><p>Much later that evening, Remy was in bed, holding Marie in his arms. Marie was fast asleep and he was all but asleep himself. If he could, he would hold her forever. He was all too aware of just how easily everything could come apart; the bonds between them were not as they appeared. The bond that seemed the strongest was truly weak enough to crumble at the slightest touch. There weren't too many times that Remy regretted deceiving people, but this was one.<p>

* * *

><p>Rogue prepared to leave after breakfast, although the way Remy dragged things out, she suspected he just didn't want her to go at all (she never voiced this as she was pretty sure he'd confirm it). Still eventually she managed to pack her bags in the boot, gave Remy a kiss goodbye and turned to get into the car.<p>

Evidentially the kiss goodbye wasn't sufficient for Remy's tastes, for he whirled her back around and kissed her deeply against the driver's door. His pelvis ground against her hips.

"Okay," Marie said when she could finally get her lips away from him. "I really have to get going now."

"You sure you can't stay another day?" he asked.

"I have a feeling that if I did, you'd be asking me the same question tomorrow," she replied wryly.

He sighed. "Yeah, probably."

Marie gave him one finally, brief kiss, then got into the car. She hit the button to bring the top down and dropped her handbag in the foot of the passenger seat.

"Remy?"

"Oui ma chère?"

"Would you mind opening the garage door for me?"

Remy looked at her, then looked at the garage door. "If I don't, that means—"

"I'd threaten to drive right through it, but I wouldn't want to damage my shiny new car," Marie interrupted dryly.

Remy chuckled and hit the button for the garage door to open. "See you in September, ma chère. Have a good trip."

"I will."

* * *

><p>Jackie sat on the 'espresso' black, faux leather, sectional lounge in the modern apartment. On the other side of the corner lounge were the current residents; Lisha and Phillis. The apartment was nice, and fairly clean if obviously 'lived in', and the rent they were asking for the spare bedroom was reasonable. Jackie kept waiting for the catch.<p>

"...clean up after yourself—we won't do it for you," Lisha was saying, "no pets, and no males allowed."

Jackie blinked. "Come again? That last one."

"No males," Lisha repeated firmly, looking Jackie straight in the eyes. "No men, no boys, not even a transexual man."

Jackie nodded thoughtfully. Misandry, _that_ was the catch. Jackie refrained from asking if they let male tradesmen in here.

"Okay," Jackie said.

Lisha and Phillis looked at each other, then back at Jackie.

"That's all you're going to say?" Lisha asked. "Just 'okay'?"

Jackie shrugged. "It's your apartment."

"Yes it is."

"I'll just go elsewhere when I feel like sucking cock." Jackie had mentally debated saying that, but decided if the women were so deep in their misandry that they couldn't handle her sleeping with men, then she didn't want to be here.

"Eww," Phillis said, turning up her nose. "You both those...things...in your mouth?"

"Amongst other places," Jackie replied wickedly.

"Just as long as we don't have to hear about it," Lisha said firmly. "Or see it."

"Duly noted," Jackie said. "So, do I have the room?"

Lisha and Phillis looked at each other. Phillis gave Lisha a nod.

"Okay," said Lisha, holding out her hand. "You have the room."

* * *

><p>Just when Marie was beginning to think she'd never get back to Xaviers, she started seeing familiar territory and knew she was getting close. It had been a long, boring trip, but Marie was quite comfortable with her new car now and was finally excited about the fact that she had a car <em>and<em> she wouldn't have to ask people for lifts all the time, or to borrow their cars.

When she was about twenty minutes away, Marie called Xaviers to let them know. It was closer to half an hour by the time she got to the gates, on account of traffic. The top of her car was (still) down, and Marie leaned out to plug her security code into the keypad. The gates opened and Marie was about to drive through when she heard a voice crackle through the intercom: "Marie! Omigod is that you?"

Marie just chuckled and drove on through. The gate closed behind her and by the time she got to the multi-car garage, quite a crowd of her friends had formed.

"You got a car," Bobby said, staring at it as Marie climbed out over the door.

"Really?" Marie asked, winking at him. "Is that what this thing is? I had wondered."

And that was when Jubilee practically pounced on Marie. "It's so cute! When did you get it? _How_ did you get it?"

"I uhh," Marie said, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. "I won it. In, you know, one of those mall raffles, umm, a couple of months ago."

"And you didn't tell us?" Jubilee demanded, shaking Marie. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Marie shook Jubilee in return, grinning back at her. "Because then I wouldn't have gotten this reaction."

Kitty giggled.

"Well, hey, congratulations," said Bobby.

"Thanks," Marie replied.

She felt bad about lying, she really did. But at least now the lie part was past and hopefully no one would ask too many questions. She got her bags out of the boot, and her handbag from the front, all the while chatting to everyone about the trip and how excited she was to be back here. Jubilee extracted a promise from Marie to take her for a joyride later.

Logan watched the scene play out, puffing on his cigar. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something that didn't quite add up.

* * *

><p>Remy was naked and sitting on a bed in one of the many rooms of the House of the Rising Sun. In his arms was one of the hired women, Rachel, also naked, and crying into his shoulder. He rubbed her back gently.<p>

"Sorry," she said after a time, her voice thick with tears. "You came here for a good time and here I am... I..."

She started crying again and Remy kissed her head gently.

"That's not important chère," he said seriously. "_You_ shouldn't be here at all. You should be at home, with your family."

Rachel sniffed. "It's not that easy."

"Sure it is," Remy replied. "Go home."

"But I..."

"What? Is it money?"

Rachel made a noise that was somewhere between a sob and hiccup.

"Alright then," Remy said. "That's a yes."

He disentangled himself from the overwrought prostitute, got off the bed and retrieved his trench coat from the floor. Rachel was too distressed to notice what he was doing until he sat back down on the bed with a cheque book and a pen in hand.

"Okay, so... How much is a funeral these days?" he asked.

Rachel made an alarmed, choking noise and looked up. Through tear-strained eyes she saw him sign a blank cheque.

"No, you can't... She... I'm not..." she stammered, half because of panic and half because of all the crying she'd been doing.

"The Madam won't know," Remy said firmly, deciding on an amount and writing it in. "You're not going to get in trouble."

"But—"

"Chère," Remy said. "I don't care if you are a prostitute. You're entitled to leave just like everyone else."

He pulled the cheque off the stub and held it out to her. He deliberately left the name blank as he didn't actually know Rachel's real name.

"Take it," he insisted. "Take it and go home."

Slowly Rachel reached out a shaking hand and curled her fingers around the cheque. Remy put his cheque book and pen back into his trench coat pocket, and then gave her a half hug.

"We should probably stay here for the rest of the session," he said, "that way the Madam won't have any reason to ask questions."

Rachel nodded, sniffing, and hugged Remy back.

"Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much."

Remy shrugged. "No big deal."

Rachel wiped her eyes with her hands. "Did...did you want to—"

"Chère," Remy said, regarding her seriously. "If I was your boyfriend and not your client, would you actually want to have sex with me right now?"

Rachel swallowed and finally shook her head. Remy smiled at her.

"I didn't think so," he said. "Don't worry, I'll just hook up with someone else when we're done. That's not exactly unusual behaviour for moi."

"Okay," she said meekly.

Remy grinned at her and started picking up their clothes off the floor. "Here, get dressed. No point sitting around naked if the only thing we're going to get is cold."

* * *

><p>Jackie hurriedly opened up the door to the apartment. She had discovered the catch—a catch even greater than Lisha and Phillis' no-men policy: They had screaming matches once or twice a week.<p>

Jackie stepped into the hall, pulled the door shut behind her and nearly walked into a passer-by.

"Désolé," Jackie said apologetically to the neighbour she'd only seen a few times in passing. "I didn't see you there."

"It's quite all right," he replied in his British accent. "I see that Lisha and Phillis are at it again."

"Heh," Jackie replied as her eyes discreetly checked out his tall, lean form. "When are they not? I'm Jackie."

"Edmund," he said, sounding mildly surprised and giving her offered hand a light shake. "Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, I assure you," Jackie said coyly.

Edmund paused briefly. "Right. Were you on your way to anywhere in particular?"

"Just getting away from the noise."

"Would you like to come in for some tea or coffee?" Edmund asked, gesturing to his apartment door. "I have soundproofing."

Jackie laughed. "Sold!"

Edmund chuckled and turned to his door to unlock it.

"So what part of England are you from?" Jackie asked.

"Newcastle."

"Upon Tyne?"

Edmund gave Jackie a nod of the head as he held the door open for her.

"Aye," he said, sounding a little surprised.

"Cool," Jackie replied, stepping inside his apartment and looking around. "I went there for a family vacation back when I was a kid."

Jackie decided that Edmund didn't really need to know that by 'vacation' she really meant 'Papa got hired to steal something'.

"Nice place you got here," she went on, looking around. The furniture was somewhat mismatched, but it looked comfortable, and he had a rather large fish tank with lots of fish and fun decorations in it. "I like the aquarium."

"Thank you. Tea? Coffee?" Edmund inquired, making his way to the kitchen.

"Coffee, black and none," Jackie replied, following him. "So, what brings you to N'Orleans?"

"The sun," Edmund answered with a grin.

"Heh, yeah the sun," Jackie said, grinning back at him. "Good stuff that."

Edmund chuckled as he filled the kettle with water and set it to boil.

"Hey, thanks for inviting me over," Jackie went on as Edmund prepared their drinks. "I really appreciate it."

"Any time," Edmund replied. "And by 'any time' I mean 'until you get tired of living with the harpies or they kick you out'."

Jackie laughed.

"They go through house mates do they?" she asked.

"You're the third one this year."

"It's only July."

"Exactly."

"Oooh."

"It's usually the screaming matches that drive people away," Edmund said. "Oh, and they're very strict on their 'no men' policy. _Very_ strict."

"Merci for the warning," Jackie replied with a nod, then grinned at him. "This should be fun."

"Fun?"

"Yeah, seeing how long we'll last before I leave, or they kick me out," Jackie said, her eyes bright with mischief. "I've already offended Lisha by saying 'vagoo' instead of 'vagina'."

"Vagoo," Edmund repeated with a laugh.

"If 'penis' and 'breasts' get nicknames, then so should 'vagina'," Jackie said decisively. "And 'vagoo' is fun."

"I'll give you that," Edmund replied. "Oh, while we're on the subject, I should tell you about my visitors policy."

"What does your visitors policy have to do with offending people with the word 'vagoo'?" Jackie asked, smirking as Edmund answered the call of the whistling kettle.

"Not so much the word 'vagoo' as..." Edmund trailed off and poured the hot water into the mugs. "Basically, I have a 'nude after nine' policy. If you want to stay here after nine pm, you get naked with me."

Jackie burst out laughing.

"I like it!" she declared. "Does it work very well at getting rid of...hmm...guests that have overstayed their welcome?"

"Usually," Edmund replied, grinning back at her as he slid her coffee across the bench towards her. "And as it turns out, my female friends are more likely to stay and get naked than my male friends are, so I can't complain."

Jackie laughed some more and thanked him for her coffee. "When I get my own place, I may have to introduce a 'nude after nine' policy too. That's just awesome. And here I was thinking Englishmen were all prudes."

"My father would be mortified if he knew."

* * *

><p>Logan was in the garage. He was servicing one of the school's cars, but every now and then he would glance up and look over at Marie's shiny new car. He wished it wasn't a convertible; a normal car would keep scents better, but after a trip as long as the one from New Orleans with the top down, the only discernible "person" scent was Marie's.<p>

He was sure he wouldn't be so concern about it if it weren't for how...edgy Marie was about discussing how the got the car. She was asked about the contest multiple times at the beginning—the topic had since waned—but he'd noticed that every time she would avoid eye contact with people, sometimes stammer a bit, and would always find a way to change the subject. That combined with a slight increase in heart rate and sweat—probably not noticeable even to Marie, but definitely noticeable to he-who-had-enhanced-senses—tended to suggest to Logan that Marie was lying about the contest.

But why in the world would she lie about something like that?

Logan sighed. Maybe he was reading too much into it. Perhaps Marie was just nervous.

Not for the first time he considered asking her about it, and as usual he decided against it. Marie was smart, and he was certain that if she was in any kind of trouble, she'd tell them about it.

* * *

><p>Remy stared at the entry for the House of the Rising Sun in his phone, his finger resting on the call button. He was all wound up and desperately needed a good lay, but at the same time, all his visits to the brothel lately had left him feeling unfulfilled. And he didn't just mean that one session with Rachel.<p>

He wanted to bemoan that he didn't know why, but he knew exactly why: every woman he was with, he was wishing she was Marie. It was useless though, even closing his eyes made no difference. He knew what Marie's body felt like. He knew how she responded to his touch. He knew how she kissed. The women he was with might be able to fulfil his physical needs, but not one of them could touch his heart's desire.

Remy exited out of the contacts menu on his phone and put it aside. He undressed, lay down on the bed and took himself in his hand. He really hated to do this, but what choice did he have?

He closed his eyes and pretended that his hand was really Marie's. She sat beside him wearing...nothing. She was wearing nothing, and with every stroke of her hand, her breasts would jiggle. Her eyes held his and there was a slight smile on her face. Her nails lightly grazed his skin. He came and Marie leaned over to kiss him.

But his lips met air, and when he opened his eyes, Marie had vanished. He was alone; alone with his own mess and a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He sighed and reached over for tissues and his phone. While one hand mopped and soaked up the mess so he didn't drip on the way to the shower, the other hand dialled an entirely different number.

"Oui," he said when the call was answered. "I'd like to make an appointment with Lady Helena."

* * *

><p>Jackie sauntered into the maternity ward with a teddy bear in her hands. She grinned as she walked through the curtains to Rita's beside.<p>

"Hey chère," she said.

Rita and Sy (who was sitting beside her) looked up at Jackie's arrival. A tiny baby in a little pink blanket was resting on Rita's arm.

"Hey Jackie," Rita replied softly.

"Congratulations," Jackie said, then handed the bear over to Sy. "Take care of this."

Sy chuckled and took the bear.

"Merci," said Rita as Jackie stepped right to the edge of the bed to have a look at the newborn.

"What's her name?" Jackie asked.

Rite grinned at her. "Emily."

Jackie giggled. "Emil's going to spew."

"He already has," said Sy. "But hey, he was the one who suggested naming the baby after him. Of course, he says _now_ he was only joking, but I don't believe him."

"I wouldn't either."

* * *

><p>Marie walked outside with her phone to her ear. "Hi Ryan."<p>

"Hey," he replied. "Look, umm, there's something... I need to... See the thing is..."

Marie swallowed hard as Ryan stammered. She had a feeling she knew where this was going. Things had been awkward between them ever since, and they never had taken the time to work things out.

"Yes Ryan?" Marie prompted.

Ryan took a deep breath. "This... this isn't working."

Marie sighed and closed her eyes. "I know."

"I really like you, Marie, I do," Ryan said earnestly. "I just... I can't... It's not..."

"You don't like the open relationship," Marie stated.

"Yeah," Ryan said, sounding dismal. "And I would really like to take things further, but if you're not, umm... I feel stupid saying this..."

Marie barked out a laugh. "I get it. If I'm not willing to commit to an exclusive relationship, then maybe we shouldn't be together any more."

"Yeah, that. I'm really sorry, Marie. I really am."

"Don't be. You weren't asking for anything unreasonable," Marie replied, wondered once more if she should admit the truth about Remy and decided it was far too late for that. "I just sorry I couldn't give it. You deserve better than that, sugar."

"Ha! My sister said the exact same thing."

Marie laughed.

"Okay, well," said Ryan, going back to sounding awkward again. "I guess I'll see you in September."

"Yeah," Marie replied quietly. "See you then. Enjoy the rest of your summer."

"You too."

They hung up. Marie sat down on the stairs and stared out at the world. Unbidden, a tear rolled down her cheek. She'd just screwed that up royally, didn't she? She had a perfectly good relationship with this really sweet guy, and she just shot herself in the foot.

"Marie?"

Marie lifted and turned her head to see Kitty looking worriedly down at her.

"Hey Kitty," Marie replied, and looked straight in front of her again.

"Everything alright?" Kitty said, sitting down beside her.

Marie was quiet for a moment. "Ryan broke up with me."

"Over the phone?" Kitty was aghast.

"Well, he does live in Louisiana," Marie pointed out, a hint of a smile in her voice. "I hardly expected him to drive all the way out to New York to break up with me."

"I guess," Kitty said begrudgingly. "At least he didn't text you."

"Yeah."

Kitty rubbed Marie's back sympathetically. "Are you okay? Did he say why?"

For a time Marie didn't reply. She was so sick of lying.

"Kitty," Marie said slowly, without looking at her. "I... I have a confession to make."

"Okay?"

"I've been buying the Cure off the black market."

Kitty drew in her breath sharply, and her hand paused in the middle of rubbing Marie's back.

"The guy who's selling it... Well, the going rate is more that I can afford so I kinda agreed to pretend to be his mistress so he can piss off his wife," Marie went on. "I didn't want to cheat on Ryan when he asked me out, so I told him we had to have an open relationship 'cause I wanted to focus on school, and of course, he wanted to take things further and be exclusive—which is totally and completely reasonable—but I couldn't give him that so _of course_ he broke up with me. And I couldn't tell him the truth without implicating someone else. Oh and just so everything's clear? I didn't win the car in some competition: the guy I've been buying the Cure off bought it for me."

Marie started crying, not because she was sad, or happy, just out of simple relief that she'd finally told someone the truth. Kitty hugged her tightly and that just made Marie cry harder.

"Oh honey," Kitty said, fishing a tissue out of her pocket for her. "How come you never told us before your powers had come back?"

"Because you would have tried to talk me out of getting the Cure, or found a way to stop me, or something," Marie snapped back, her tone tempered by tears. "You guys have never accepted my original decision to get the Cure. You were always talking about the Cure wearing off me like it was a _good_ thing. It's not a good thing! I hate my powers. I hate feeling like I'm going insane. I hate not being able to touch anyone. I hate being treated like a blabbermouth. I hate not knowing whether I know something about one of my friends because they've told me or because I absorbed that information. I hate feeling like my psyches could take over at any time. And I really, really hate the idea that one day I might kill someone. That I might hold on too long, or not be able to let go, and kill someone, or put them in a coma for so long they may as well be dead."

Kitty nodded slowly.

"But you like lying?" Kitty asked quietly. "You like lying and sneaking around, and open relationships?"

"No!"

"Oh, and adultery," Kitty went on. "You must be okay with that too, if you're sleeping with someone else's husband."

"I'm not having sex with him!" Marie insisted as she pushed herself away.

"Yet," Kitty replied with a shrug.

"I'm not!" Marie exclaimed, standing up in front of Kitty and glaring at her.

"Yeah..." Kitty said, slowly standing up too. "The car agrees with that."

"I'm not having sex with him! I made that abundantly clear from the beginning that wasn't going to happen."

"Maybe not now," Kitty said patiently. "But how long were you planning on buying the Cure off this guy for? The rest of your life? Sooner or later—"

"It's not like that!"

"I just find it interesting that someone who is so opposed to human trafficking is so eager to sell herself into sexual slavery."

"I'm not!" Marie spluttered, horrified at the very idea. "It's not like that! He doesn't ask for sex from me."

Naturally, Marie pushed away all those times Remy had pushed at her boundaries and had made his sexual attraction for her abundantly clear. He'd also made it abundantly clear that he wasn't going to ask her for sex, and she believed it.

"Well, he doesn't have to, does he?" Kitty asked. "He has you under his thumb. Hey, have I ever told you about how pedophiles work?"

"I don't see what that has to do with any of this."

"Pedophiles usually target a kid they see regularly," Kitty said matter-of-factly. "A niece, a nephew, a neighbour...their own child; and then they spend about eighteen months 'grooming' them. They segregate them from other kids, they expose them to naughty movies and they usually give them special treats."

Kitty made a point of looking over at the garage. Marie shook her head violently.

"No, Kitty, it's not like that at all," she insisted. "He's not like that. And I'm not some little kid; I'm perfectly capable of making my own decisions."

"You're right, so he probably needs a lot longer than eighteen months to wear you down and get you primed to his...needs," Kitty replied coldly.

"Yeah, well, he's going to have a hard time doing that," Marie snapped back at her. "Considering that we were just going to go on vacation together once a year when I need another dose. We're _friends_, Kitty. He's a nice guy—"

Kitty snorted contemptuously and Marie glared at her.

"He is!" Marie insisted. "He's sweet and caring, and generous, and a loving father, and—"

"Oh? A 'loving' father?"

"You're disgusting. And his daughter is my age."

"_Now_ she's your age."

"Hey, I know for a fact that nothing...nothing like _that_, ever happened between them," Marie said firmly. "Their whole family is very open when it comes to sex and they've both made it very clear that they don't have _that_ kind of interest in each other at all. So you can take your baseless assumptions and shove them up your ass."

"I note you only applied 'baseless assumptions' to his relationship with his daughter," Kitty replied coolly. "Yet the idea that he might be priming you for his sexual desires...?"

"Shut up."

"But it is possible."

"Shut up! Just...just shut up!" Marie yelled at her. "Do you know what this guy loves to do in bed?"

"Screw emotionally vulnerable women?"

"He likes to snuggle!"

Kitty blinked. "Snuggle?"

"Sometimes I think he'd rather hold me than kiss me," Marie said. "And just to get in first, no he doesn't put his hands anywhere he's not supposed to."

She had forgiven him for Las Vegas, therefore it didn't count.

"Well, that's...odd, but it's still not the point, Rogue—"

"My name is Marie."

"No, 'Marie' is an human girl," Kitty replied. "'Rogue' is a mutant woman. And you _are_ a mutant, Rogue."

"I know that," Marie said tersely. "I haven't denied being a mutant."

"Sure you have, in the beginning when you first got the Cure," Kitty said gently. "I'm guessing you started calling yourself a mutant again after your powers came back."

Marie closed her eyes and sighed.

"I put Brett into a coma," Marie said. "He was out for two weeks. Don't you understand? I had to get the Cure, Kitty, not just for me, but for everyone else as well."

"And you think that by lying to us, you're protecting us?"

"I didn't think any of you would respect my decision."

"Maybe, maybe not," Kitty said. "But it would have been nice to give us the option."

"Fine," Marie said irritably, her eyes snapping open. "Fine! I'm pretending to be the mistress of a guy I consider a friend who's been supplying me with the Cure so I don't go insane or put anyone else in the hospital. I'm sorry about all the lying. There, happy?"

"Better question," Kitty replied. "Are _you_ happy?"

Marie pressed her lips together and looked away, her eyes flashing. Kitty stepped close to her and took her hands.

"Rogue—"

"Please don't—"

"Rogue," Kitty said again, firmly. "Do you know how many mutants the Cure has worn off?"

"Twelve percent."

"That's an old statistic. It's actually closer to eighty-five."

Marie looked at Kitty in surprise. "Really?"

"Uh huh," Kitty replied with a nod. "Most of the ones in recent years all got the Cure when they were teenagers—younger in a couple of cases. Our theory is that while the Cure turned off access to their powers, it didn't actually stop them from developing. Eventually their powers grew to the point where the Cure couldn't contain it any more. Adults have had a much better success rate with the Cure. Rogue...if the Cure keeps wearing off you, it could just be that your powers are still growing. You never know, you might have control over your powers right now and not know it because you're still under the effects of the Cure."

"You...you really think so?" Marie asked, barely daring to hope.

Kitty squeezed her hand.

"I do think so," Kitty said. "And I also think that this thing you have with this guy... Well, whatever you want to call your relationship, I think it's destructive and I think you're just going to get hurt. Please, Rogue, don't take the Cure again. Let it have a chance to wear off and come here and let us help you control your powers. You've certainly helped enough of the students here, please, let us return the favour."

Marie swallowed hard and nodded. Kitty smiled and hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry if I upset you, Rogue," Kitty said quietly. "But surely even you can see this isn't healthy? You're lying to your friends, you're carrying on with a married man... This isn't you, Rogue, this isn't you."

Marie closed her eyes.

"I know," Marie said. "I haven't really been... Kitty? Please don't tell anyone else. I'll tell everyone when I'm ready, when I'm done with college okay?"

"I won't say a word." Kitty replied.

* * *

><p>A few weeks later, twenty minutes after Marie had departed for New Orleans, Kitty was in Storm's office with Storm and Logan. She passed a notepad over to Storm in silence and Storm frowned slightly at Kitty as she accepted it.<p>

"I promised I wouldn't say a word, so I'm writing it down instead," Storm read aloud. "Rogue's been buying the Cure off the black market."

"What?" Logan demanded, looking at Kitty.

Kitty just gestured for Storm to continue reading.

"She's been paying for it by pretending to be her dealer's girlfriend."

Snikt.

"Alright," Logan said, standing up, all six claws out. "If I go now, I'll be able to catch up with her and—"

"Logan," Storm said tersely. "You can wait a little longer."

"Longer?" Logan practically growled. "Some bastard has been taking advantage—"

"I'm well aware of that," Storm said. "But let's do Kitty the courtesy of hearing—reading—the rest of the story."

Logan reluctantly stayed by the door, retracted his claws and folded his arms.

"I talked her into not taking it any more and breaking things off with this guy," Storm continued to read. "I also told her about how the Cure's been wearing off people who got it as teenagers and our theory that the Cure wasn't strong enough to contain developing powers. I suggested that she might have control now and not know it."

Storm stopped and looked at Kitty. "So you didn't tell her that—"

"No," Kitty said, shaking her head. "At this stage in the game, I thought it was better that she was able to finally graduate from college without worrying that...you know."

Storm sighed. "I knew we should have told her long before now."

"We thought we were making the right decision by her."

"Yeah, yeah, we can assign blame and recriminations all we want," said Logan. "In the meantime, I have someone I need to kill."

"Logan," Storm said tersely. "The X-men don't kill."

"Fine, I'm taking a leave of absence—"

"Logan—"

"Let's just wait until after Rogue gets back from college," said Kitty. "She seems...ahem..."

Kitty grabbed the note pad off the table and quickly wrote a message on it, which she held up for Logan. He got as far as "She seems to like this guy—considers him a friend" before he stopped reading.

"I don't care what she thinks of him. He's taking advantage of her," Logan said.

"I don't disagree," said Storm, "but let's give Rogue a chance to finally finish college. She's already had one interruption. Since Kitty is now in the know, she can monitor the situation."

"Yeah and if anything goes wrong, she can _e-mail_ us," Logan replied cynically.

Kitty nodded and grinned at Logan. "Just make sure you check your mail."

Logan grunted and started to leave, when a thought occurred to him. "Kitty? Rogue's car: Do you happen to know if she really won it in a contest?"

Kitty turned the page over in the notepad, wrote down her reply and held it up to him. Logan nodded.

"I knew something smelt funny," was all he said, and departed.

* * *

><p>Back in New Orleans, blissfully unaware that his life had been spared—for now—Remy was in his bedroom, kneeling against the side of the bed. In his hands were the Cobra Commander and Duke, and lying nearby was Scarlett<p>

"So Mr Hauser," Remy said in a slimy kind of voice and looking at the Cobra Commander. "We meet again."

Remy lifted up one of Duke's hands with one of his fingers.

"Your reign of tyranny is over, Cobra," Remy said in a 'heroic' voice, looking at Duke. "We've got you surrounded. Now, hand over Scarlett."

Remy laughed, leaning the Cobra Commander back as if he was having a good belly laugh.

"You are too late, Mr Hauser," Remy said, using his 'slimy' voice again. "Scarlett has already moved on to the next world."

"You villain!"

"Is that supposed to be some kind of insult? And now, you shall die."

Remy put down Duke so that the could load up the Cobra Commander with his giant gun, then picked up Duke again.

"Nice big gun you've got there," Remy made Duke ask in his 'heroic' voice.

"Why thank you."

"Compensating for something?"

"Yes, actually. My lack of minions. Prepare to die, Mr Hauser."

Remy put Duke down again, and then picked up Scarlett.

"Not so fast, Cobra Commander!" he said in the most sultry, feminine voice he could muster.

He mimed Scarlett swinging down from a rope, and made her kick the Cobra Commander over with both her legs, then had her land on the bed. He dropped the Cobra Commander on his side, disarmed him, and picked up Duke again.

"Scarlett!" he had Duke say. "You're alive!"

"How is this possible!" Remy said in the Cobra Commander's voice. "You can't have escaped my cobra pit."

"It's not much of a cobra pit if there's only one cobra in it," Remy said in Scarlett's voice. "Come on Dukey-baby, let's blow this joint."

"I hope you mean that literally."

"Of course. I planted C4 all the way here."

"Nooo!" Remy said in the Cobra Commander's voice. "Not my precious base!"

"Hmm, I guess we should probably take him with us," Remy said while having Duke look at the Cobra Commander.

"Well, okay," he made Scarlett reply. "But only if you want him to escape from jail so that we can have a sequel."

He used Duke and Scarlett to pick up the Cobra Commander, and mimed them carrying him to the other side of the bed. He put down all three action figures briefly, had a conversation where Duke informed imaginary soldiers to lock the Cobra Commander up, and grabbed a playing card. He charged the card lightly and blew it up where he imagined the Cobra Fortress to be. He picked up Duke and Scarlett again, moved their arms forward and positioned them standing up on the bed so it was like they were hugging each other.

"And that brings us to the end of another successful mission," he had Duke say to Scarlett. "Whaddya say we go back to my place and 'celebrate'?"

"I'll bring the champagne," he had Scarlett reply.

Remy then proceeded to make kissing noises while he mimed them kissing. He snickered to himself and put them down. He felt a little silly, and at the same time, inordinately pleased with himself.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

It was very strange to be pulling into the parking lot belonging to a completely different dormitory block to the one Marie was used to going to. Marie parked the car, grabbed her things, locked the car with the top put up, and headed inside.

It was easy enough to find her room, having gotten familiar with a number of different dormitories on the college campus. Her new room was tiny, and missed out on having the benefit of an ensuite like her old dorm room, but she had it all to herself.

While she unpacked, Marie pulled put her phone and rang Jackie.

"What?" was Jackie's cranky response when she answered the call.

"Nice to hear from you too," Marie replied dryly, as she pulled her clothes out of her bag with one hand.

"Marie?" Jackie asked, sounding surprised. "Oh hey sorry. I'm having a bad day. Honest work sucks."

Marie chuckled. "Your new job not all it was supposed to be?"

"People are so stupid!" Jackie exclaimed. "I have never met so many people who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near a computer in my life. There is this one particular moron who is—and I am not joking—confused by folders. For some reason subdirectories are beyond her comprehension. _And_ Ethan—the other IT guy here—had to put a sticker on her space bar that says 'Any Key' because she couldn't find an 'any' key and got confused."

"Does she put white out on the screen too?" Marie asked slyly.

"No," Jackie replied, "but I wouldn't put it past her. And she doesn't even bother to try and learn anything either. She just clams up every time I try to explain even the most simplest thing that would make her life a hell of a lot easier! Idiot! Oh and Marie? Don't think that just because I'm pissed with her right now, means that I don't notice when you're making fun of me."

Marie chuckled.

"I just don't understand people who seem to enjoy staying ignorant," Jackie went on, irritably. "And do you know what the worst part is?"

"What?" asked Marie as she opened up the small wardrobe and started putting her things away with her free hand.

"I can think of sooooo many way I could scam these people," Jackie said woefully. "I'm telling you, this is thief hell: so many delicious opportunities to steal and I have to pass up every one in favour of the bigger picture."

"How terrible for you," Marie replied, not even bothering to hide her amusement.

"Oui, you mock me now," Jackie said ominously.

"I'm sure you find something to mock me about in return later," Marie said. "Oh, I know: I checked my classes—only three of the five I need are available this semester."

"Ha!" Jackie said jubilantly. "You're stuck in college for another year; sucked in."

"Sucked in?" Marie repeated. "Is that the best you can come up with?"

"At the moment, oui," Jackie replied. "I now have to go to the boss' office and clean up his computer because the moron has been looking up porn on his computer and it's gotten infected with malware. According to Ethan, this happens oh, every three months."

"Well, at least he's consistent. Think of it this way, sugar," Marie said. "Now you know what the rest of the world feels like."

Jackie made a rude noise.

"And it'll probably be good practice for your career in the FBI," Marie went on merrily. "You know, dealing with idiots, not liking your boss, not being able to get up to mischief no matter how much you might want to so that you don't blow your cover."

"Man," Jackie said with a sigh. "I like people so much better when they're scared of me."

Marie laughed.

* * *

><p>"…well it's good to know that you're settling in okay," Remy was saying over the phone to Marie.<p>

"Yeah. I'm just disappointed not all my classes were available," Marie replied with a sigh.

"Can I say that I'm not?" Remy asked.

Marie laughed. "You just want me to stay here all year."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Yes."

Remy chuckled, then snapped his fingers of his free hand. "That's what I need to ask you. For our next date, what do you think? High or low?"

"Umm, what?" Marie asked.

"High or low?" Remy repeated. "Which would you prefer?"

"For what?"

"I told you, our date," Remy replied mischievously. "I'm going to ask you a few questions over the next few days, and your answers will determine what we do."

"Interesting," Marie said. "What's 'high' and what's 'low'?"

"Ahh, that would be telling."

"But how am I supposed to know what I'm getting into?"

"You don't," Remy said, a big grin on his face. "Think of it as an adventure."

Marie laughed.

"Alright," she said. "High."

* * *

><p>The following day, Marie got a text from Remy:<p>

_Hot or cold?_

After wondering—yet again—what in the world Remy was up to, Marie texted back with "hot". That was her first inclination, and with nothing else to distinguish one from the other it seemed just as good as "cold".

He certainly had her curious, though.

* * *

><p>"So, this in your new car, huh?" said Chris, looking over Marie's sports car where it was parked in the parking lot. "Sweet."<p>

"Yeah," Ryan said, nodding. "Congratulations."

Marie shrugged. "Thanks."

"Can I catch a lift?" Chris asked.

"Wasn't I taking you home?" asked Ryan.

"Yes, but you don't have shiny new convertible," Chris replied.

"But we live in the same dorm," Ryan pointed out, giving Chris an odd look.

Marie laughed. "I can take you home, sugar. But let's not make a habit of it, shall we?"

"Okay," Chris said cheerfully. "Hey can we go via the comic shop—"

"No."

"Aww darn."

Marie grinned at him. "Sorry."

"Well, I've got some stuff I need to do before I leave anyway," said Ryan, and then he nodded to Marie. "Congratulations again."

"Thanks."

Ryan headed off, and Marie and Chris got into the car. While Chris happily inspected the interior, Marie wondered if Ryan had believed the "mall raffle" story, or if he suspected that the Remy whose name she'd called out during their love making had bought it for her. Of course, none of the mutual Remys they knew could afford something like this, but that didn't necessarily mean anything.

Marie was interrupted from her musings by her phone signalling a text had arrived. It was from Remy:

_Light or dark?_

Marie smiled. That one was easy, she decided, and texted back "light". She was trying to avoid being in dark, intimate places with Remy.

"So, we going?" Chris asked.

Marie looked up and put her phone back into her pocket. "Sure."

* * *

><p>Try as she might, Marie couldn't wrangle out of Remy their destination until they got there, at which point, Marie didn't need to ask:<p>

"Hot air ballooning," Marie said, looking at the hot air balloon spread out on the ground by its basket and crew. "So, it this 'high' or 'hot'?"

"Both," Remy replied, grinning at her. "If it had been 'high' and 'cold', we'd be going on a helicopter."

Marie laughed. "What about 'low'?"

"Yacht sailing or scuba diving," Remy said as he led them over to their hot air balloon. "And the question would have been 'dry or wet'."

"Hmm," Marie said. "Probably would have picked dry, so I guess we'd be yacht sailing?" Remy nodded. "So what's 'light or dark'?"

"You'll just have to wait and see."

They waited and watched while their hot air balloon was inflated and climbed into the basket. Remy held Marie's hand as they floated above the city and gazed out at all the lights. The operator pointed out various landmarks as they went.

About an hour later, they landed and toasted their flight with champagne. The hot air balloon crew wished them well, and their next stop was a local Teppanyaki restaurant. Apparently food being cooked in front of them was what counted as 'light' in Remy's mind. Marie had been a little dubious about the food throwing at first, but had to admit afterwards that catching it had been fun. She had been particularly impressed with the small bowls of rice that were sent somersaulting in their direction.

After a delightful, unique dinner, they headed back to Remy's place. Marie went into the ensuite to change and while he was waiting, Remy stripped down to his boxers. He was just getting comfortable on the bed—freshly made that morning with his "Marie" sheets—when the ensuite door rolled open.

"So," said Marie, leaning against the door frame. "What do you think?"

Remy looked up to see Marie wearing the blue babydoll he'd bought for her oh so long ago. Her breasts were held up halter style, and sheer blue fabric draped down below her bust. Marie had also taken the time to buy a pair of matching briefs. Remy's eyes drank in the sight as he walked towards her.

"You look amazing," he said as he slipped his hands through the split at the front of the babydoll.

"Thank you," she replied shyly.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that Marie was standing there, she was having second thoughts about this choice of dress.

Remy leaned into Marie and kissed her gently. His fingers ran over her skin and he felt her tremble even as she kissed him back. Slowly he pulled his lips away.

"Now go change," he said.

Marie blinked at him. "What?"

"Go change," he said, pulling his hands out from under what passed for clothing. "You're obviously not comfortable wearing this in front of me and I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed around me. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate this glorious vision."

Marie smiled as Remy gestured to her body with both his hands.

"And I do thank you for indulging me," he went on, "but I'd really rather that you wear whatever you feel comfortable wearing. Or not wearing, as the case may be."

He waggled his eyebrows at her. Marie rolled her eyes but gave him a kiss.

"Okay, I'll go change," she sand and smiled affectionately at him. "Thank you."

Remy smiled back at her and stepped away, allowing her to return to the ensuite and close the door. It had been tempting to let her stay dressed as she was. Odds were she would have relaxed after a few minutes—or at least distracted—but that wasn't how he wanted things to be between them. He wanted Marie to be intimate with him because she wanted to be, not because he was manipulating her.

Hastily he pushed the ugly truth about their situation out of his mind.

The ensuite door opened again and Marie, now in tank top and bed shorts, sauntered over to Remy who was once more lying on the bed. She climbed on top of him and he grinned delightedly up at her. It was unusual for Marie to make the first move.

"Better?" he asked.

"Much," she replied.

Marie bent her head over to kiss him and he lifted his hands to run them over her skin. Marie shivered, but Remy knew it was from delight rather than discomfort.

Marie spent a little time exploring Remy's mouth with her tongue while his fingers drew delicate, intricate patterns on her skin. She lifted her head to kiss along his jaw, from chin to earlobe, enjoying the feel of his stubble on her lips and tongue. Sure, it was a little rough, but Marie had made some headway on how to best approach stubble with minimal sandpaper effect. Well worth the effort in her opinion.

She nipped at his earlobe and then kissed, licked and nipped her way down his neck to his collarbone, then proceeded to go to town on his upper body. Remy had little choice but to lie there and take it as Marie had moved out of his reach. He didn't mind though. If anything he was thinking the only thing that could make this experience better was if he was tied up, or at least handcuffed to the bed. He lifted his hands and took hold of the bar at the head of the bed; maybe he could pretend. Remy had a feeling he'd have a hard time talking Marie into tying him up for real.

Completely oblivious to the direction that Remy's delight in her touch had taken his thoughts, Marie kissed her way back up to his lips. She lifted her head and noted Remy's hands gripping the head of the bed.

"Right," she drawled, looking at him cynically. "Make me do all the work."

"Don't mind if I do," he replied, waggling his eyebrows at her.

Marie kissed his lips lightly.

"You're lucky I like your body," she informed him, and went back to enjoying said body.

"I feel like a piece of meat," Remy replied jokingly.

"Yep."

Remy laughed.

Eventually, Marie laid her head down on his chest and lightly ran one hand over his skin. Remy finally let go of the bar at the head of the bed and wrapped his arms gently around her. He sighed, closed his eyes and just enjoying her proximity. Knowing that Ryan was out of the picture, and quite capable of pretending that Bella Donna wasn't an issue, it was easy to feel like Marie was his, and he was hers.

* * *

><p>Marie woke the next morning when Remy rolled over to snuggle with her and smiled faintly to herself. She wondered, not for the first time, if she should be upfront and tell him she wasn't going to take the Cure again and once again ruled out that idea. She didn't want to give him a chance to talk her out of it, or find some other way of conning her into staying in a romantic relationship with him. The less notice she gave him, the less chance he had. She knew the subject would come up sooner or later—after all, eventually Remy would want to make plans for their trip next June. The longer she could delay the inevitable, the better.<p>

She couldn't quite credit Kitty's "you might even have control now and not even know it" theory. It sounded nice, but far too easy. Still, there was some merit to the idea that her powers might still be developing. She was very well aware that many mutants didn't see the full range of their abilities until mid-to-late twenties, sometimes even later.

In fact the idea frightened her a little: if her abilities were still developing, if she wasn't even close to what she could really do, what would she truly be capable of? What would she be able to do when the Cure wore off? What about when she reached her full potential? Would she actually be capable of control? Or would her absorption abilities grow worse, perhaps being able to absorb people through their clothes or worse, absorbing people without needing physical contact at all? The very idea made her shudder. Visions of her friends keeling over and dropping down dead around her swam through her mind and she hastily pushed it away. There was no proof she'd be capable of such a thing, and even if she was, they'd know before it got to that point...right?

Marie sighed deeply. She realised she was just borrowing trouble. She had no way of knowing how her powers had developed, and wouldn't until the Cure wore off. For that matter, if Kitty was right about the Cure being more effective on adults, maybe it wouldn't wear off her again. Maybe she was far enough along in her development that her powers wouldn't be able to get past the prison the Cure made any more. Marie decided that this was probably just as likely as her 'absorbing people without even touching them' idea.

She twisted around so she was facing Remy and wrapped her arms around him. His eyes remained closed, but she knew he was awake enough to be aware of what she was doing and adjusted himself to suit. Marie knew she'd stay in contact with him, and she couldn't really credit Kitty's idea that he might be trying to wear her down into becoming his own personal sex slave. It was theoretically possible, she supposed; he did visit brothels and was a pretty good con artist, but Marie simply couldn't look at Remy and take the idea seriously. He just didn't seem that way inclined.

There was also Jackie to consider. Marie knew Remy wanted to patch things up with his daughter, and if he turned Marie into his own personal sex slave, there'd be no reconciliation between them. Ever. Remy could get sex anywhere, but his daughter was one-of-a-kind; no way he'd give that up.

Satisfied with this train of thoughts, Marie sigh again, and then settled in to further enjoy her sleep-in, wrapped up in Remy's arms.

* * *

><p>There was a knock on Edmund's apartment door and he glanced up at the clock: 9:37pm. With a sigh, Edmund put down his book after marking his spot and opened the door. He found Jackie standing there with her laptop bag hung over her shoulder and dressed in a dressing gown and a pair of slippers.<p>

"Well, this is an unexpected surprise," he said.

He was about to ask why she was there, when he heard Phillis screeching at Lisha from the apartment next door.

"Ahh," Edmund said and held the door wide open for Jackie. "Say no more."

Jackie chuckled and stepped inside.

"Thanks cher," she said as she made her way over to the table. "Those deux make it impossible to think sometimes."

Edmund gave a shrug, closing the door. "I'm amazed you've lasted as long as you have, pet."

"Oh," Jackie went on as she put the laptop bag down on the table. "And I haven't forgotten your visitors policy."

Jackie had untied her dressing gown and let it fall to the floor. She kicked her slippers off and Edmund raised his eyebrows.

"That's all you were wearing?" he asked.

"What?" Jackie asked shamelessly, pulling out the chair behind her. "I live just next door. So...those pants coming off?"

Edmund hooked his fingers into the loose waist of his tracksuit pants and pulled them down. Jackie watched with undisguised admiration as Edmund stripped off.

"Is there anything you need?" Edmund asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Jackie replied, and pointed her thumb at her laptop. "I have something I'm working on that I need to finish. You just go on doing...whatever it was you were doing."

"Alright."

Edmund went back over to the lounge and his book. Jackie turned on her computer and went back to work on what she had been trying to concentrate on before Phillis and Lisha's latest screaming match had broken her concentration.

It was a little weird for Jackie; she wasn't used to being naked with another guy without having sex. She glanced over at him at one point, his nose stuck in his book. He was a few years older than her, and was of average height and build. He looked like he'd have enough stamina to keep up with her.

"Hey Ed," she said.

"Mmm?" Edmund asked looking up reluctantly from his book.

"How do you feel about casual sex?" she asked.

"If I didn't have casual sex, I'd never get any," Edmund replied. "I hate dating."

"Oh good," Jackie said, smiling delightedly at him. "I don't date at all. Wanna screw?"

"What, right now?"

"Uh huh."

Edmund shrugged. "Okay, just let me finish this chapter."

* * *

><p>One fine Saturday in October, Remy took Marie up to Lake Pontchartrain for scuba diving. It turned out that he was actually a qualified instructor, so he was able to teach Marie how to use the equipment and they didn't require anyone else to join them. Marie was fascinated by the activity of the fish at one of the artificial reefs that Remy showed her.<p>

"Once you've got some more experience, I'll take you out to one of the oil rigs," Remy told her afterwards. "Now _there's_ a sight."

"I'll look forward to it."

* * *

><p>Marie pulled up in Remy's driveway and got out of her car, taking her overnight bag with her. College was off for the week for Thanksgiving and Remy had invited her so stay over for a couple of nights and join him and his family for Thanksgiving lunch (Jackie was having dinner with the Boudreauxs this year). Marie had agreed, and so here she was, the day before Thanksgiving. The front door opened before Marie even had a chance to knock and she grinned at Remy as she stepped inside.<p>

"You weren't sitting on the door, were you sugar?" she asked.

Remy glanced up at the top of the door as he closed it.

"Nah," he replied. "I'd never fit in that tiny gap."

Marie laughed. She gave his a quick kiss, and then trotted upstairs to the bedroom to drop off her bag. When she came back down, and entered the dining room, she discovered that Remy had already pulled out a number of board games for them to play. They played Scrabble (Marie won), then Connect 4 (Remy won), and a few rounds of poker (Remy won).

After poker was done, they went out for dinner. Since Marie had parked Remy's car in, they took his Yamaha motorcycle for the trip. Remy hadn't been to the restaurant in question for awhile, so they both ordered different dishes they thought sounded nice and ended up sharing with each other. At Remy's suggestion, they also ordered two glasses with different wines to try with their respective meals and shared those as well.

When they had their fill, they took the scenic route back to Remy's home.

"So," Remy said when they walked through the door. "You wanna play another game, or are you bored of board games?"

"Umm," Marie said thoughtfully, looking at the games that Remy had pulled out earlier. "Let's play another."

"Okay, what will it be?" Remy asked.

"Battleship," Marie replied slyly. "Strip Battleship."

Remy paused and eyed her suspiciously. "Don't toy with me."

"Now why would I do a thing like that?" Marie asked, smirking at him.

"Because I'm a sucker for punishment?"

Marie paused and considered that. "You have a good point, but I'm being serious."

Remy gave Marie a long look. "There's a catch. I know there's a catch."

"You're a smart boy," Marie replied as she retrieved Battleship from the pile. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"So there _is_ a catch," Remy said, his eyes on her as she opened the box and began setting up the game.

"Mmmhmm. Any time you sink a ship, the loser has to take off an article of clothing," Marie said.

"Ahh," Remy said with a nod. "Ship sinking, not individual hits, and since there's only five ships, then the ultimate loser will only have to take off five items of clothing."

"Yep."

"And you're probably wearing at least seven."

"Yep."

Remy considered for a moment, then shrugged. "Okay then, why not?"

Marie chuckled and the game began. Marie wasn't entirely certain what had inspired her to play any kind of stripping game with Remy. Just for something different, she supposed, although she did wonder if maybe she was guilty of leading him on.

Remy's destroyer was the first thing to sink, and without any prompting from Marie, took off his coat. Marie was just as prompt taking her own jacket off when he sunk her submarine, although she did frown when she took off her shoes after he sunk her patrol boat.

Marie was partway through sinking Remy's carrier when he sunk her destroyer. Marie took off her socks, then succeeded in sinking Remy's carrier and he took off his shirt. He grinned at her while he did so, and she poked her tongue out at him.

Remy's submarine was next to go, and he took off his shoes. It was with much delight that he sunk Marie's battleship, and he leaned on the table as he watched her take off her shirt. The bad news—for Remy—was that Marie was wearing an undershirt. The good news was that the undershirt was white and he could see hints of a pink bra underneath.

"Enjoying the view?" Marie asked mischievously.

"Oh definitely," Remy replied with boyish enthusiasm.

Marie smirked at him and glanced at the game board. "J7."

"Hit."

Marie sunk Remy's battleship, and he proceeded to make a show of undoing his pants and pulling them off. He was now only wearing socks, boxers and an undershirt.

It was a race to sink the final boats then: Remy looking for Marie's carrier while she searched hard for his patrol boat. The carrier having five peg holes, as opposed to the patrol boat only having two, it was inevitable that Remy found Marie's carrier first. He was four pegs into sinking it when Marie finally found his patrol boat. Unfortunately for Marie, Remy correctly guessed the location of the fifth peg and sunk her carrier before she could finish sinking his patrol boat.

"Undershirt?" Remy asked hopefully.

"You wish," Marie replied as she stood up.

Remy just shrugged as Marie took off her pants. He was just as happy getting to see her underwear—and then he realised that she was wearing bike pants underneath.

"What's this?" he asked. "Who wears bike pants underneath their pants?"

"Me, obviously," Marie replied, smirking at him. "I don't like the way the seams rub against my legs."

Remy was silent for a moment, almost pouting as he looked over her.

"So, for our next game," he said slyly. "How about a wet t-shirt contest?"

Marie laughed.

"Hey, I would totally win that contest," Remy insisted, gesturing to his own white undershirt. "You would see my nipples. All we'd see of you is your bra."

Marie laughed some more, made herself at home on Remy's lap (much to his delight) and kissed his lips lightly. Remy wrapped his arms around her and kissed her in return. Marie decided that she wasn't really leading him on by playing Strip Battleship. After all, she was effectively wearing what she usually wore to bed with him when she came over, and Remy was wearing more than usual. Satisfied that it was just something fun, and not something misleading, Marie was able to relax and enjoy Remy's fine hands on her skin.

Abruptly, Marie found her back pressed against the edge of the table. She was about to voice her protest, when she heard a crash as Remy swept the Battleship game boards behind her onto the floor, and giggled when he lifted her up onto the table in their place.

"You're cleaning that up," she informed him, thinking of all the red and white pegs that were now scattered over the floor.

"Worth it," was all Remy said before smothering her with kisses.

Remy's hands firmly needing Marie's stomach and back. She noted that he was still giving her chest a wide berth and felt a mild twang of disappointment when she thought about his hands doing to her chest what they were doing to the rest of her. She reached for the hem of Remy's undershirt and started to pull it up, but he stopped her.

"Stripping game is over, ma chère," he teased her between planting kisses on her neck.

"Aww but—"

"Non."

"Hmph."

Marie attempted to slide her hands up under his shirt instead, but once again, Remy stopped her.

"Hey," Marie objected. "Stop holding out on me."

Remy grinned wickedly. "I have stubble."

"True," Marie said momentarily placated. "And it's nice, sexy stubble at that."

She planted kisses along his jaw and Remy lowered her down on the table. He gave her the chance for a couple more kisses, then moved his mouth to her stomach. Marie was going to protest again, when she realised that in between kisses, licks and nips, he was also deliberately but gently brushing his stubble on her skin. He was just delicate enough to make Marie start thinking of other places he could rub with his stubble, and actually started considering letting him.

As Remy knelt down on the floor and started on her legs, Marie drove the thought from her mind, although that was easier said than done as she was rather enjoying the continuing texture changes—stubble, lips, and tongue—on her bare skin. Remy was a person, she reminded herself. Yes, a man with a body she found hot, who was well-versed in the bedroom arts and was capable of doing the most delicious things to her body, but he was still a person, not someone put on Earth for the sole purpose of giving her pleasure.

Marie pulled herself back up and looking at Remy, who was kissing the skin just below the bottom of her shorts. She chewed her bottom lip, a little bashful when she realised just how close to her nether regions Remy's head was. A sly smile crossed her face, and she lifted her other leg up and over Remy's head, landed on the floor and twisted her other leg out of his grip.

"Hey," Remy objected as she scampered away from him.

"See?" Marie said, grinning at him. "You're not the only one who can hold out."

Remy started to reach for her, and Marie backed off lightly, challenge glinting in her eye.

"Can't catch me," she said.

Remy grinned delightedly at her, and Marie proceeded to lead him on a merry chase around the house. After skidding over the slippery kitchen/dining room floor, Remy decided that taking off his socks was probably a good idea.

Marie dashed into the living room, and they did a little dance around and over the lounge. Remy chased her up the stairs. He managed to catch her ankle on the ascent, but Marie wriggled out of his grip. He caught her tightly around the waist once in the hallway though, and lifted her over his shoulder in a fireman's hold.

"Hey," Marie objected and slapped his behind. "Put me down, Swamp Rat."

"Oh no, chère," Remy replied slyly as he carried her into his bedroom. "Not if you're going to spank me."

Marie was silent for a moment as she considered, then began slapping his behind with both hands. Gently at first, but got marginally harder as she went along.

"This is really uncomfortable," she said as she smacked him. "And I swear, if you don't put me down right now, I'll... I'll..."

"You'll what?" Remy asked, now standing in front of his bed.

Marie drew in her breath and stopped slapping him. "Down boy!"

Remy laughed and laid Marie down on the bed, his eyes bright. Marie smiled up at him. Remy kissed her lips lightly.

"Can I go down on you?" he asked impulsively.

"I... What?" Marie asked with a blink.

"Go down on you," he said. "Eat you out."

"Uhh," Marie said, feeling a blush colour her face. "Oral sex is still sex, Remy."

Remy gave a half shrug and started kissing her neck.

"I know," he said between kisses. "It was worth a try though."

Marie laughed nervously. "Why would you want to?"

"Because it's you," he replied, his voice full of desire. "I want to taste you and give you pleasure. I want to hear you cry out in ecstasy."

Marie shuddered, feeling heat rush through her body. She closed her eyes.

"Remy, you and I—" but she go not further as Remy silenced her with a tongue-laden kiss.

There was no more talking after that, although Marie was finding herself hard-pressed to put the "Remy wasn't put on this Earth for her sole pleasure" thing out of her mind. She kept reminding herself that he was a person; a sweet, loving, compassionate person, who was a little rough around the edges. So he was a thief and a crime lord; she was a thief of sorts too and it wasn't like he woke up one morning and decided he was going to be the leader of a crime syndicate.

Remy finally allowed the removal of his shirt and Marie began kissing, licking and caressing his chest. He felt so good to touch and taste. Marie felt like she'd been getting to know his body fairly well, but there were a few decided holes in her knowledge, both of his body and of hers, and she was aching to know more.

Again, Marie reminded herself that Remy was a person. Unfortunately, a married person, and not to her, making him unavailable for the kind of exploration she had in mind. She felt a pang of her own compassion for the man beneath her hands. He was lonely, she knew. She saw that side of him rarely, but she knew it was there.

He was confident and determined. Although initially his insistence to push at boundaries drove her crazy, but Marie knew now that Remy just liked to play the odds. Taking risks was a part of who he was, the bigger the better, but he also knew when to pull back. He knew what was truly valuable to him.

Eventually, Marie changed into her night clothes; pretty much the same coverage but much more comfortable for sleeping in. She curled up in bed next to Remy and nestled into his arms. Remy kissed her forehead gently and his fingers stroked her back lazily.

Marie could understand why Remy liked snuggling. It was comforting, and she revelled in the prolonged skin to skin contact. It seemed to say "no matter what happens we'll always have each other", and to Marie that feeling was of more value to her than any material possession. It was even more valuable to her than any amount of making out, as nice as that was.

She wished the moment would last forever. Just herself and Remy, wrapped up in each others arms, with no obligations or expectations of the rest of the world to meet or abide by. Whatever frustrations he gave her, they were worth it for all the fun and adventure, and the moments like this.

Marie sighed wistfully.

"I love you." she said softly.

Abruptly she opened her eyes, realising immediately what she'd said without meaning to. All time seemed to slow down as she mentally begged Remy to have not heard.

"I love you too."

Marie felt like a hand had grabbed hold her of heart and was squeezing it tightly. Remy reached down and tucked his fingers under her chin to lift her head so he could kiss her properly. He seemed to realise that not all was good in the world and pulled away to see the pained expression on her face.

"Remy," she said, avoiding his eyes. "This isn't going to work."

"Don't be silly," Remy replied. "We love each other. Of course it's going to work."

His initial thrill at hearing those three precious words from Marie's mouth was quickly being dashed to pieces.

"You're married!" Marie exclaimed.

"On paper," Remy said dryly. "And who cares what some silly piece of paper says?"

"Your Guild. Your family," Marie pointed out.

"A piece of paper can't tell me who to love," Remy insisted as he put his hands on her upper arms. "And I love _you_, Marie. I love you with everything that I am. We can make this work. I know it."

"No," Marie said, shaking her head. "This can't work—"

"Of course it can! We can be together, you and I. We can live together, vacation together, date, just simply be together," Remy pleaded, well aware that he was using the word 'together' way too much. "Okay, so maybe a legal marriage isn't on the cards, but we don't need one, not when our hearts and souls are intertwined far more tightly than any ill-conceived marriage."

"Remy—"

"Kids? Is it kids?" Remy asked, desperately trying to stop Marie from telling him this wouldn't work, although the idea of getting Marie pregnant and then having a repeat of Bella Donna's paranoia about him cheating made him more than a little nervous. "Hey, we can have kids, if you want."

Marie covered his mouth firmly with her hand. "I'm not going to be the other woman!"

Remy pulled her hand off and shook his head.

"You're not the other woman," he said. "You could never be the other woman. Belle's the other woman."

"That's very easy to say," Marie replied, almost nastily, "but it won't work in practice."

"Yes, it will."

"You're still tied to her, Remy. You still celebrate your anniversary, for goodness sake!"

"No I don't," Remy insisted. "I celebrate the Unification of the Guilds."

"You wear your wedding ring," Marie said spitefully. "And need I point out that you're the only who's always saying the Unification of the Guilds and your marriage to Bella Donna are tied, and that's why you can't get divorced?"

"Chère—"

"And since we're on the subject of what other people think," Marie went on fiercely. "What about your family? Your Guild? What about my friends? How the hell am I supposed to introduce you to them, Remy?"

"If they are really our friends, they'll understand," Remy said, ignoring the sick feeling in his stomach that told him otherwise.

"Oh yeah? What about Jackie?"

Remy looked away. Jackie would never understand. He'd have to choose between them, and he didn't think he could do that. Marie took his silence as his answer.

"Please Remy," she said softly. "Just...just drop it okay? What we have isn't going to last. It can't. Even if Jackie could accept this, you're still tied to Bella Donna."

"I don't love her," Remy said, staring at the bed covers, his voice quiet, almost pitiful. "I love you."

"I'm sorry sugar," Marie said. "But we don't have a future together. We shouldn't have even had a past."


	24. Chapter 24

**AN:**

Partway through this chapter, part of a book is read. The story is called "The Wild Swans".

Also, the explanation that Rogue gives for Gambit and Jackie's powers is a technical explanation which only 100% works in the movieverse because they changed what Gambit was capable of doing. This explanation also takes into account what Gambit could do at full power and what New Sun could do, **but** it maybe 75-90% would work in the comicverse. Please do not take it for canon.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 24<strong>

The thought at the forefront of Remy's mind when he woke up the next morning was that Marie was wrong. As long as he was supplying her with the Cure, they had a future together. Maybe it wasn't the future of his first choice, but they would still be together, and given time he was certain he could win her over. At the same time, Remy knew he'd also have to sort things out with Jackie, although he had no idea how to pursue that. He wasn't sure if things could go back the way they had been though, but he was determined not to make things worse.

Remy smiled at Marie, still fast asleep in bed, and cuddled with her. He wasn't entirely certain when he'd fallen for her, but he had and he'd fallen hard at that. Sure, he'd dated a lot of women, some of whom he'd loved, but not one of them had made him feel quite the way Marie did. There were a few times when he wanted to tell her he loved her, but he couldn't bear the thought of Marie rejecting him. It hurt like hell to know that Marie loved him too, and yet still rejected him.

He was going to find a way.

When Marie did wake up, she felt like Remy was holding her just that little bit tighter and closer that morning. She sighed, remembering her unbidden declaration the night before. She had no idea whatever possessed her to say that; it was bad enough she even felt that way. She felt sick, and guilty and at the same time, completely thrilled that she was actually feeling guilty again. This wasn't how her life was supposed to go. She wasn't supposed to fall in love with someone else's husband.

Breakfast was a solemn affair. Neither spoke of the night before. Marie didn't really have anything to say, and Remy was caught up in pretending like everything was okay. After cleaning up the breakfast things, Remy moved on to preparing Thanksgiving lunch.

"Not having it at the LeBeau Mansion?" Marie inquired at one point.

"Nah. Mon père and Carole are overseas at the moment," Remy replied. "They do a lot of travelling."

Marie nodded. She gave him a hand with a little of the cooking, and help set the table, but was mostly bored for the duration. She half hoped and half feared that Jackie would be the first to arrive, and was half relieved and half disappointed when Henri and Mercy were first through the door.

"Ahh, Marie," said Mercy as they entered. "I thought you'd be in New York."

Marie shrugged. "Didn't really seem worth going all the way to New York for just a couple of days."

Mercy frowned. "Aren't you done with college?"

"Sadly no," Marie replied while Henri closed the door. "The powers-that-be decided to mess around with the requirements for my major and I have to stay another year or I don't graduate."

"I see," Mercy said thoughtfully.

"Mais, I'm sure that mon frère is so caught up about having you around another year," Henri said, grinning.

"Heh, yeah," Marie replied wryly. "He's in the kitchen."

Louis arrived next, with a blonde beauty in tow.

"Marie, this is my girlfriend, Adele," Louis said. "Adele, this is ma cousine Jackie's friend Marie."

Marie grinned at him for that introduction, then at Adele. "Nice to meet you, sugar."

"Likewise," Adele replied.

Jackie was the last to arrive and Marie suspected as they sat down for lunch that Jackie had deliberately delayed. Marie was painfully aware of Jackie's disapproval of the matter, but it was hard to put the blame squarely on Remy's shoulders, especially now.

Not long after Jackie's arrival, lunch was served and everyone filled their plates and sat down at the table.

"So, Jackie," said Marie. "How are things with your housemates going?"

"Lisha and Phillis are not a patch on you, chère," Jackie replied, giving her a wink.

"Aww, how sweet," Marie said, grinning back at her.

"They are kind of fun to live with, once you get past the whole shrieking at each over for any little thing part," Jackie went on merrily. "They've got decent taste in clothes and shoes and stuff. Throw decent parties. Men-free parties, unfortunately, but they're good for socialising anyway."

"Oh, right," Marie said. "You mentioned they hate men."

"It's so much fun stirring them up," Jackie said gleefully. "Especially Phillis: I think she's allergic to the word 'penis' or something. Ed's pretty impressed I've managed to last this long. He thinks it's only a matter of time before they kick me out. I'm just having fun seeing how much I can push things."

"Of course you are," Marie said, then gave Remy a pointed look. "Gee, I wonder where you get that from."

Remy grinned broadly.

"Who's Ed?" Mercy asked, and Remy was glad she asked the question, as he felt a little out of touch with Jackie's life these days.

"He's my neighbour," Jackie told Mercy. "My hot neighbour with a sexy British accent, who takes pity on me during Lisha and Phillis' screaming matches and lets me stay with him for the duration. Well, when he's home."

"Very considerate of him."

"Plus he has this 'nude after nine' policy."

"A what?" Louis asked.

"After nine pm, you get naked," Jackie said, her eyes glinting with mischief. "This is especially fun after parties. Sure, most of the guests go home, but there are a few which hang around. It's fun, but a little weird. I never thought I'd just sit around naked with a bunch of people and not have sex."

Louis dropped his fork and stared at his cousin in shock. Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"Désolé, did I hear you correctly?" Louis asked after picking up his fork off the floor. "Because I didn't think you were happy unless you were sitting on someone's cock."

"Louis," Mercy said, frowned at him, then addressed the table at large: "I really don't think this is an appropriate discussion for the dinner table."

"Good thing it's lunch then," Jackie replied without batting an eye. "I've matured, Louis. Something you might want to think about doing."

"I have thought about it," Louis said. "I decided it wasn't for me."

Henri snorted. Mercy glared at him.

"Ahem, so," Henri said, ignored the grin that Remy gave him, and found a way to change the subject.

The lunch progressed.

"This is really good," Adele said wistfully, looking at the food. "I want to eat more, but then I'll have no room for dinner at my parents."

"I understand your pain," said Jackie. "After lunch, I will be having dinner with Maman and Oncle Julien."

"Sucker," Louis said.

"Hey, you're going to be having dinner with my parents too," Adele said, frowning at Louis.

"He's talking about me getting stuck socialising with Oncle Julien," Jackie said.

"Oh."

"Well, I'm glad you enjoying the food, mam'selle," Remy said to Adele.

"Oh, I am," Adele replied, nodding her head.

"So," he said, realising he knew very little about his nephew's girlfriend, "what is it that you do?"

"I'm a jeweller," Adele said with a slight smile on her lips.

"Really?" Remy asked, then glanced briefly over at Louis and caught Mercy's amused look on the way. "Dare I ask how you two met?"

"Well—" Adele began.

"All I'm going to say is that there's a reason why it took me deux years before I told her about the Guild," Louis cut in.

"Tried to rob you, hein?" Remy asked. "What happened, Louis? You get distracted by a belle femme?"

"Like you're one to talk, Remy," Henri said.

"Actually, he succeeded in ripping off my boss," Adele said dryly, "and used me to help him do it."

Louis coughed uncomfortably and Jackie grinned at him.

"And you're still with him?" Marie asked. "That's very forgiving of you."

"What can I say?" Adele replied with a shrug. "I didn't know when we started dating, and when he did finally confess..."

Adele trailed off and spread her hands.

"Must be love," Mercy said with a mischievous look at her son.

Jackie snorted contemptuously and internally frowned at Marie's startled reaction to Mercy's comment.

"Oui," Remy said. "It's amazing the things we'll look over when we're in love."

"It's all part of the self-deception package," Jackie said. "This is why I don't date."

"Really?" Louis asked. "I thought you didn't date 'cause you were too busy being a slut."

"It only seems that way. In reality, not dating gives me more _time_ to be a slut," Jackie replied with a nod. "And really, my way of doing things is much less stressful: Not only is sex relaxing, but there's no pressure of trying to keep up appearances or impressing any one, or living up to other people's expectations. I have to do enough of that when I'm working."

"What about living up to other people's expectations of your sexual prowess?" Marie asked, a slight smirk on her face.

"At this point, chère, I'm more concerned about the boys living up to _my_ expectations," Jackie replied wickedly.

"Does Ed?" Marie asked.

"They just get naked and don't do anything, remember?" said Louis.

"Only sometimes," said Jackie. "I'm finding nakedness with no sex to be oddly liberating. But oui, Marie, Ed is a damn good screw. In fact he—"

"Can we please have one conversation that doesn't return to sex?" Mercy asked.

"Okay," Remy said with a wink. "But only one."

Henri hid his laughter.

Food and conversation petered out. Louis and Adele were the first to leave, having a relatively long drive to Adele's parents' place. Mercy and Henri left not long thereafter, and finally Jackie was left with Remy and Marie.

"Well," said Remy. "Guess I'd better start cleaning up."

"I'll help," said Marie.

"I'll just watch," Jackie said cheekily.

"Naturally. Slacker," Marie teased her.

Contrary to her statement, Jackie did lend a hand with the cleaning up. There was only so much room in the kitchen though, so while Remy and Marie did the washing up, Jackie did end up doing more watching than cleaning.

There was something she just didn't like about what she was seeing, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was. Something in how they looked at each other, and in the way they seemed to make a tedious chore playful.

Jackie swept the table cloth off the table and took it into the laundry, more as an excuse to get away from the sight than anything. A mild headache began at her temples, and she ignored it. She had felt far worse aches and pains than that.

She returned to the kitchen just in time to hear a sigh from Marie and the words "I love you, too."

"You what?" Jackie exclaimed.

Remy and Marie both looked up and over at Jackie, guilt written all over their faces. Jackie rubbed at her temple. _Marie_ had said that. Worse, she said 'too' which meant Remy had told her he loved her first.

"Jackie," Remy began.

"Screw you!" Jackie shouted, the pain at her temples getting worse very quickly. "You just can't stop yourself from manipulating Marie, can you?"

"It's not—"

"Bullshit!"

Marie's eyes widened in alarm as Jackie's clothes began to glow with magenta light. Jackie seemed to stagger slightly, the pain racing hard and fast down her spine.

"Jackie!" Remy said, moving towards her, his voice full of concern and fear, and far more interested in what was happening to his beloved daughter than salvaging the situation.

"No!" Jackie said, determined to pretend—despite the obvious evidence to the contrary—that her powers were not flaring up. "No, there's nothing you can...possibly say that'll...that'll..."

Remy caught Jackie as she stumbled forward, almost doubling over with the agony. It was everywhere now, in every inch of her body, far worse than it had ever been before. Remy put his hands on her glowing clothes and tried to deactivate the charge. He was shocked to discover just how powerful she was now; try as he might, trying to deactivate the charge was like trying to walk through molasses.

Marie watched on helplessly. She'd seen a number of power flare ups over the years, and absorbed memories of others. She hadn't seen anything quite like Remy and Jackie's abilities before though, and hadn't figured out just how they worked yet. There was nothing she could say, no advice she could give, nothing she could do at all that would help her friend.

Marie looked at her hands. Well, maybe not nothing.

She walked over to Jackie and Remy, and took hold of Jackie's hand. While Remy did his best to help his daughter practically, Marie did her best to offer comfort. Marie knew that skin-to-skin contact could communicate so much more than words.

Marie felt Jackie squeeze her hand tightly, enough that Marie wondered if she was going to end up with broken fingers. She didn't break away though; Jackie needed this.

For the first time since getting the Cure, Marie actually regretted it. If she could just absorb Jackie right now...

x-x-x

_She poked out her tongue as she concentrated on fitting the brightly coloured puzzle piece with its mates. She tried to force it into the gap, but it refused to go until she figured out that she just needed to turn it around. She beamed and clapped her hands when the puzzle piece slotted neatly into place._

_She went to pick up the next puzzle piece when she realised that Papa and Maman were in the room. She couldn't understand most of the words that they used, but she knew yelling when she heard it. Yelling was bad._

_She looked at them and scrunched up her face more and more as the yelling got louder and louder. Tears filled her eyes and abruptly she started to wail._

_"Now look what you've done!" Maman yelled. "You've upset your daughter!"_

x-x-x

_She had her head on Maman's shoulder and looked at the big words on the big pages as Maman read them._

_"Elisa's cheeks were very pale and her lovely long hair covered her face, as the King's servants piled on the great logs of wood. But Elisa did not see them as her eyes were on her work and the crowd laughed and jeered as they saw that she was weaving green flax into a tunic," Maman said. "One of the other servants ran from the castle and flung at her feet the ten tunics which she had already spun. 'Let these burn with the witch' he cried. But no sooner had he spoken than eleven wild swans swooped down out of the sky. They made a circle round Elisa, flapping their great wings, and at the sight of them the crowd fell back in terror. Before anyone could stop her, Elisa had taken the tunics and flung them, one by one, over the swans."_

x-x-x

_She held her picture up to Maman._

_"That's a very nice drawing, Jacqueline," said Maman._

_There was a pause as Maman glanced at the door across the room, then looked back at her._

_"Why don't you show your Papa? Just let yourself in."_

_"'Kay!" she replied happily._

_She walked over to the other door and reached up for the handle. As she walked inside she could see Papa at the desk drinking from a can in his hands._

_"See what I drew!" she said, walking over to him._

_Papa put the can on the desk and leaned over to see the picture. His breath smelt funny._

_"Tres bein," he said._

_"Merci," she replied proudly, then pointed to the can on the desk. "What's that?"_

_"Hmm?" Papa said and turned to look. "Oh, that's beer."_

_"Can I have some?"_

_Papa chuckled softly and lifted her into his lap. "Maybe when you're older."_

_"Aww, but I want—"_

_"Why don't you tell me about this picture of yours?"_

_"Okay!"_

x-x-x

_She looked at the closed door, frowning with curiosity through dark sunglasses._

_"This isn't what I paid for!" exclaimed a woman's voice on the other side of the door._

_"You paid for your ex-husband to be framed for four homicides, one attempted rape and one attempted murder," the voice of her friend Gris Gris replied. "So far the two old farts are dead, the newborn is dead, and in a minute the girl will be dead. Right now we're working on the rape part."_

_"But I thought—"_

_"What? That I was going to shove _my_ cock in you? I'm an Assassin, not a whore. I'm here to kill, not to fulfill your little rape fantasies. Now, my partner managed to get a sperm sample from your ex earlier, so we'll be using this to get it in you. And I'm going to have to rough you up some. Got to make it look convincing."_

_She started as the little girl next to her clutched at her arm._

_"I'm scared," said the little girl._

_She looked between the little girl and the door, wondering at the meaning of what Gris Gris had said. Abruptly, sounds of hitting and screaming started coming from behind the door. The little girl started to cry. She looked at the little girl condescendingly._

_"Crying is for the weak," she informed her sternly._

_The little girl didn't listen, she just kept on crying._

_The door opened, and Gris Gris' head peered out. He looked straight at her through the holes in his full head mask and the little girl hid behind her in fright._

_"Make the call," he told her._

_The little girl whimpered and cried harder._

_"Come on," she said to the little girl. "We should call 911."_

_The little girl just sniffed and nodded. She guided the little girl to the phone and encouraged her to pick up the phone and dial the number, assuring her that she'd do the talking._

_"Papa's hurting Mama," she told the operator, doing her best to mimic the little girl's crying voice, "and he hurted Grand-papa and Grand-"_

_Bang!_

_She fell silent and the little girl dropped to the floor, a bullet in her chest. She looked up and at Gris Gris._

_"Time to go."_

x-x-x

_"Oh look," Varian jeered. "It's the daughter of Satan."_

_Rita giggled. "Hi devil eyes!"_

_"That's right," she said, standing up proudly before her peers. "I am Le Diable Blanc and there's nothing you can do about it. You're all just jealous that my eyes are way awesomer than yours."_

_"Are not," said Rita._

_"Are so."_

_"Are not."_

_"Are so."_

x-x-x

_She pulled her lips away from Sy's and wiped off the saliva with the back of her hand. His nose was turned up in disgust, mirroring how she felt._

_"Just what are you deux up to?" came Emil's voice._

_She turned to see Sy's father looking at them with raised eyebrows._

_"That kissing stuff is gross," Sy informed him._

_"Yeah," she agreed. "Why do you do it all the time?"_

_"Well, it gets better," Emil replied, "with practice. Like lock picking. Oui.. just like lock picking. You should try using tongue sometime."_

_"Tongue?" she said the same time Sy said "Eww!"_

_"Sure," Emil said mischievously. "Just pretending you're picking a lock in each other's mouth with your tongue. Uhh...but please don't do that in front of Bella Donna, okay?"_

x-x-x

_She lay on the bed feeling very sore between her legs. She thought this was supposed to feel good!_

_"So," said Quinten, rolling over on his side to look at her and attempting to sound suave, "was that as good for you as it was for me?"_

_She turned her head sharply, gave him a dark glare and rammed her palm into his nose._

x-x-x

_She looked at the Four of Hearts in her hand and concentrated. She could feel the card and sense all the many, many pieces that made it up. She took hold with her mind, willing those pieces to move as she bade them._

_Delight filled her when the card began to glow with magenta light. She could feel the tingle she always felt when Papa charged something she was holding. She looked at him now, and saw him smiling proudly back at her._

_"You did it, Sunshine," he said. "You did it!"_

x-x-x

_She turned her head from her target in the shooting gallery to look at Oncle Julien. She wouldn't mind him watching so much if he could actually see. As it was, it was just creepy. She looked back at the target and charged up another playing card. She flicked it towards the target, trying to follow and guide it with her mind like Papa had taught her._

_She charged another card. It was halfway across the room when a throwing knife hit it. The card blew up the knife and she turned her head to the only other person in the room._

_"Did I get it?" Oncle Julien asked with another throwing knife in his hand._

_"Oui," she replied cautiously._

_"Bon. Let's try another, shall we?"_

x-x-x

_She stood with her contemporaries in the hall. On the platform before them was Papa, Maman, Fifolet and Theoren. Behind her was the audience of interested Guild members._

_"And finally," Papa said to the crowd, "last, but certainly not least, the first Guild Member ever to complete both Assassin and Thief Masteries: Jacqueline Boudreaux-LeBeau."_

_She allowed herself a small smile and caught Maman's eyes, noting her small, but proud smile. Theoren and Fifolet approached her, each with boxes. At the same time, with deliberate coordination, Theoren and Fifolet opened and presented the boxes to her, and she made sure to take hold of them both at the same time. From the Thieves, she received her Master Thief staff. From the Assassins, her Master Assassin full-head mask._

x-x-x

_She was putting her clothes away in one of the two small wardrobes in her new dorm room when she heard the door open. Quickly, she concentrated, and felt the burn as she weaved her eyes into an illusion, changing their colour from red-on-black to brown-on-white._

_There was a cough behind her and she turned to see a woman about her height and build, brown hair with a white streak at the front. She was holding the handle of a black, wheeled suitcase._

_"Hi, I'm Marie," said the woman, holding out her other hand with a smile. "We must be room mates."_

_"Must be," she replied, taking her hand. "I'm Jackie. Nice to meetcha. Question: How do you feel about mutants?"_

_She held Marie's gaze as she blinked and looked a little uncomfortable._

_"Umm, well," Marie said, "my last boyfriend was a mutant."_

_"Good enough," she replied._

_She let the illusion around her eyes go with much relief and contained a smile at Marie's gasp of surprise._

_"I'd hate to have to hold the illusion around you all the time."_

x-x-x

_She peered at the box of vials on the kitchen bench._

_"What are all these for?" she asked, looking up at Papa with interest._

_"Ahh," Papa replied, his eyes lighting up with delight. "That's the Cure."_

_"You stole another batch?" she asked, frowning at the box._

_"Nope. I made this batch," Papa said smugly, leaning on the bench and grinning at her._

_"Made it?" she repeated. "Umm, didn't you tell me that the Cure was being made from some mutant kid that's now at the Xavier school?"_

_"Oui."_

_She looked at Papa with a raised eyebrow. He was sounding far too smug._

_"So?" she prompted._

_"The Cure is a fake," Papa said gleefully. "It only works for a month, maybe deux at most."_

_"That makes no sense," she said. "If it only works for a month, why are there still so many mutants without powers?"_

_"Placebo effect," Papa said._

_She stared at him. "They only _think_ they're Cured?"_

_"Oui. Did you happen to notice that the mutants who got their powers back first were ones with legitimately uncontrollable mutations? Fur, scales, tails, that kind of thing?"_

_"I can't say that I did."_

_"Well, they were, and a placebo wouldn't work on people in that situation, but once it started wearing off them, it started planting seeds in other mutants. Some, like say, the Brotherhood, who likely wanted their powers back. Getting news that the Cure was wearing off undoubtedly gave them hope, and because they wanted their powers back they got them back," Papa said. "Then you have other people who were probably terrified that their powers would come back, and started to doubt, so even though they didn't want them back, they came back anyway because they _believed_ that they would."_

_"And it wears off other mutants when they have flare ups or whatever that belief alone can't prevent," she said, thinking of her own troubles with her powers._

_"Exactly."_

_"So...what is this stuff?" she asked, gesturing to the vials._

_"Vitamins," Papa replied. "All I have to do is pick and choose my customers. I'll be cashing in for years if I play my cards right."_

_"Why not use something addictive?"_

_"It's already addictive. As long as they _think_ they need it, they'll keep coming back for more."_

x-x-x

_She paced back and forth in the dorm room, thinking hard. On the one hand, she wanted to keep 'Jacqueline Boudreaux' and 'Le Diable Blanc' separate. Telling Marie about her connection with the black market could put her future FBI career in jeopardy. On the other hand, they were already rooming together, and she had to acknowledge the possibility of accidental absorption, at which point Marie would find out a lot more about her than just her association with the black market._

_If Marie absorbed her, she probably have to kill her. She didn't really want to do that. She went to so much trouble to find an appropriate room mate in the first place and she liked Marie. Marie was fun and interesting, and had interesting opinions on things. Plus, she'd bought her a present for no reason except that she wanted to._

_She looked down at the studded leather bracelet wrapped around her wrist. No one had ever randomly given her something before. She certainly never would have considered getting someone something just because it made her think of them._

_She sighed. The Cure Papa sold now was just vitamins, a custom blend to look and feel like the real thing. If she told Marie there was a way to buy the Cure on the black market, she could control what she knew—no need to bring the Guild into it—and hopefully there would be no need to kill her. If she couldn't talk Papa into letting her have a dose without having to introduce them, then she should at least be able to talk him into giving Marie a discount._

_Okay, sure, Papa did have a thing about not giving discounts and stuff, but surely this one time he'd make an exception?_

x-x-x

More and more memories flooded in: sex, college, power flare ups, more sex, Perry. Then at last through the storm, Marie took hold of Jackie's powers. What she found both frightened and relieved her: Jackie had no idea what she was truly capable of, and Marie found herself hoping that Jackie and her questionable morals never did.

Remy felt the charge being removed from Jackie's clothes as she slumped limply in his arms. He turned his head to look at her face and say something encouraging, but the words stuck in his throat. Lines were popping out all over her face and hands, and if that wasn't bad enough, he could see red-and-black eyes in Marie's head.

Marie let go of Jackie's hand and the lines faded from her skin.

"Jackie?" Remy said softly.

There was no response, and he carefully lowered his beloved daughter to the floor. He moved her hair out of her face and looked at her anxiously, grateful to note she was still breathing.

"The Cure is a placebo," Marie stated.

Slowly Remy turned his head to look at Marie.

"Chère, I—" he began.

"You used me," she hissed at him. "You lied to me. You exploited me."

"You never would have dated me," he said, knowing full well how pathetic that sounded.

"So you start our relationship on a lie?" Marie demanded, her eyes practically glowing with rage and her hands clenched into fists. "You made me go through all the pain and anguish and guilt just so you could get a few dates?"

"Hey, it worked, didn't it? You didn't absorb anyone while you were taking it. You were able to touch people," Remy said. "That's what you wanted!"

"I had control of my powers the entire time and you deliberately withheld that information from me for your own pleasure!" Marie shouted at him.

Jackie groaned then and put her hand to her head.

"Sunshine?" Remy asked anxiously, temporarily distracted from Marie.

"Ugh," she mumbled. "What happened?"

"Your powers are trying to transition to the next level and you keep trying to suppress them, that's what happened," Marie snapped at her. "You'll have a lot less headaches if you practice more, and work on areas where you struggle."

"Okay..." Jackie said slowly.

"Oh and here's a hint," Marie went on, still sounding angry. "You're not an illusionist at all. You don't even have a secondary mutation. You're a micro-kinetic."

Jackie frowned, trying to think past the headache that Marie's absorption had given her. "A what?"

"Micro-kinetic. Telekinesis on the microscopic scale. Instead of moving objects you move microscopic particles," Marie said, her cranky tone starting to merge with her lecture tone. "That's how you make things 'go boom'; you take hold of most or all of the particles making up the object in question and move them individually, very fast in different directions. If you were to take hold of all the particles and move them all in the same direction at the same speed, you would be able to mimic regular telekinesis, but the larger the object, the more particles you have to take hold of for it to work properly."

Remy, still on the floor beside Jackie, blinked at this unexpected information.

"Oh, and by the way, your so-called 'illusions' are real," Marie went on, now on a roll, albeit a cynical one. "That's why they fool cameras and other machines. You're just rearranging particles. That's also why its harder for you to mess with living tissue; it knows it's not right and tries to revert, which is why your eyes always complain when you change their colour."

Jackie slowly sat up.

"And...that's why I can only do small illusions? Because of how many particles I need to move?" she asked.

"Basically," Marie replied, sounding calm for just that one word, and then scowling at her again. "And don't think that just because I'm helping you means that I'm not mad. You set me up! Why didn't you ever tell me the damn Cure was a placebo?"

"Because there was no guarantee you'd believe me if I told you that your powers were under control," Jackie said. "That's the thing with placebos, they don't work so well if you know they're a placebo. Believe me, if I'd realised Papa was going to ask you to date him, I damn well would have told you."

"You could have told me at any time!" Marie shouted at her.

"If you've been inside my head, you know why I didn't," Jackie spat back.

Marie pressed her lips together tightly. She did know: Jackie was afraid that she'd have to kill Marie if she took the news badly. She also loved her father, and couldn't bear the idea of ratting him out.

Marie turned back to Remy, glaring angrily at him once more. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to beat the pulp out of him, and it was taking all the restraint she had not to do it because the sick bastard would probably enjoy it.

"And you! I can't believe I thought you were actually doing me a favour," she said. "All this time you were just playing me like a fiddle."

"It's not like that," Remy said urgently, holding up his hands. "I just wanted a chance to get to know you."

"As what? Your own personal sex slave?"

"What? No!" Remy exclaimed, horrified. "That was _never_ my intention!"

"And you expect me to take your word for that? You expect me to believe you?" Marie scoffed. "The first thing you ever asked of me was sex!"

"I was drunk—"

"How long are you going to hide behind that? You're nothing but a selfish, underhanded, two-timing lecher!" she yelled at him, then clasped her hands together and pressed the back of one hand to her chin and went on in a mocking tone: "We can be together. Who cares what some piece of paper says? You're not the other woman, Bella Donna is."

Jackie narrowed her eyes at Remy.

"Marie, please—" Remy pleaded.

"If you really loved me, you would have told me the truth!" Marie shouted at him.

"I couldn't!" Remy yelled back at her. "I couldn't do that! If I told you the truth you would have left me."

Silence.

"Please don't leave me," he begged her desperately.

Marie shook her head as she backed out of the kitchen/dining room.

"I never want to see you again."

She would have liked to have left the house then and there, but realised as she stepped into the lounge room that her handbag was upstairs, and she did need that.

Remy stood up to follow her.

"Marie," he called as he heard her footsteps banging up the stairs. "Marie, please, just—"

"I've got this," Jackie said, stopping Remy with a hand on his chest as she began to stalk past.

Remy's eyes widened in horror when he saw her boot knife in her hand.

"Jackie, no!" he exclaimed, grabbing her shoulder. "No, you can't kill her!"

Jackie looked at Remy, fighting to keep her face as expressionless as possible.

"She's a security risk," Jackie said with all the coldness she could muster.

"She's angry, not stupid," Remy said urgently, looking Jackie in the eyes. "She's not about to go to the cops in revenge. She just needs a chance to cool down."

"She _absorbed_ me. We have to assume she knows everything."

"Exactly! And she'll know that you or another Assassin will just go after her if she blabs. She'll know that in the event any of us do get arrested we can break each other out. She'll know that the Guild will just go underground should the worst happen, and in that event we'll probably go after the X-men in retaliation," Remy said, determined to sway Jackie for a course of action he knew—he hoped—she didn't really want to pursue. "Please, don't do this."

Jackie's reply was interrupted by Marie's reappearance. With a face full of fury, Marie pegged the car keys at Remy. They hit his chest hard.

"And you can take your damn car back," she practically snarled.

Then Marie's eyes caught the gleam of the fine blade of Jackie's boot knife. She lifted her eyes to catch Jackie's.

"No—" Remy started, but Jackie slipped from his grip and launched towards Marie.

Remy sunk down to the floor, watching in horror as his daughter tried to murder the woman who had stolen his heart.

Somehow, much to Jackie's shock, Marie succeeded in disarming her. The knife went flying through the air and embedded itself in the wall near Remy. Jackie adapted quickly, but for the first time ever, Marie pinned Jackie to the floor, locking her limbs in such a way that she couldn't move.

"I know how you fight, Jacqueline Armelle 'Le Diable Blanc' Boudreaux-LeBeau," Marie said in a voice that was cold as ice. "I have all of my training, I have all my experiences sparring with you, and I have all of _your_ training. I could kill you right now, and you know it."

Jackie jerked a little, but said nothing.

"I won't," Marie said, and slowly letting Jackie go. "X-men don't kill."

Marie left quickly, not even giving Remy a glance. Jackie got up and rotated her limbs and back, feeling sensation return. She looked over at Remy, who was still on the floor, and looking back at her with a bleak expression on his face.

"If I have to kill her," said Jackie coldly, "her blood is on your hands."


	25. Chapter 25

**AN:**

Quotes in the opening scene are from:  
>#1, No show in particular, but I'm sure it's been said a bazillion times<br>#2_, Spongebob Squarepants_  
>#3, LeAnn Rimes "How Do I Live Without You"<br>#4, _True Blood_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 25<strong>

Remy stared bleakly at the television and flipped aimlessly through the channels with a beer in his hand and a whole case more of them on the coffee table.

_"But I love you."_

Click.

_"__And Patrick is a dirty, stinky, rotten friend stealer!"_

Click.

_"How do I live without you,_

_I want to know how,_

_How do I breathe without you,_

_If you ever go,"_

Click.

_"I don't know how to start forgiving you. I don't know if I ever will."_

Remy looked at Sookie Stackhouse in despair. Anna Paquin even looked like Marie, if she ever decided to dye her hair blonde. Remy finished his beer, disposed of it in his usual manner, and grabbed the next one.

* * *

><p>"Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters," Jubilee said professionally upon answering the phone.<p>

It was a couple of days after Thanksgiving, and most of those who had gone home for the holiday had now returned.

"Hi Jubilee," Marie said pleasantly, a little too pleasantly for Jubilee's taste. "Would Kitty, Storm and Logan be there? I'd very much like to talk to all of them on speaker if it's possible."

"Oh, uhh, yeah they're all here," Jubilee replied. "Hang on, I'll put you on hold and get them for you."

"Thank you, sugar."

Jubilee shivered a little as she put Marie on hold and then hit the button for the PA system.

"Would Logan and Kitty please report to Storm's office. You have an urgent phone call," Jubilee said.

This announcement was promptly followed up by Storm opening her office door and giving her a querying look.

"What phone call?" Storm asked.

"You know how when Marie is really, really angry about something, but has too much time to think about it so she starts sounding really nice and polite and sweet?" Jubilee asked. "Well, she's on the phone right now, and I'm so glad I'm not you."

"Did she say what it was about?" Storm asked.

"Nope," Jubilee replied. "And I wasn't about to ask her."

Fortunately, any further conversation was cut short by the phone ringing again, and Jubilee turned from Storm to answer it. Logan and Kitty arrived not long thereafter and Storm picked up Marie's call.

"Marie?" she said after putting the call on speaker phone.

"Hi Storm," Marie practically purred. "Are Logan and Kitty there?"

Kitty visibly winced at Marie's tone.

"Yeah, we're all here, kid," said Logan. "What's up?"

They listen to the sound of Marie drawing breath.

"Why the hell didn't you ever fucking tell me the Cure was a placebo?" Marie demanded, yelling down the phone line. "I thought you were my friends! I trusted you, and you deliberately withheld important information from me! And you can't tell me that you didn't know, because we all know perfectly well that when the X-men aren't playing political activist, they're damn well learning and teaching power control. There's no possible way you didn't know it had a placebo effect when it wore off naturally after one or two months!"

Storm let out a long slow breath.

"We thought we were doing the right thing by you—" she began.

"By lying to me!"

"Placebos are tricky things, Rogue," Storm said firmly. "We are all well aware just how important being able to touch is to you, and we wanted to make sure that, whatever happened, you wouldn't lose that. If we told you and you weren't able to accept it, it may have hindered your ability to actually get control. We had been trying to set things up so that you'd figure out you had control on your own. We had no idea that you'd been buying the Cure off the black market—"

"Katherine Pryde!" Marie shrieked and Kitty cringed. "I asked you not to tell anyone! What the hell? First you conspire against me, then you deliberately choose not to tell me even after I admitted I was buying the damn stuff off the black market, and now I find you can't even respect my wishes?"

"I was worried about you, Rogue," Kitty said, sounding upset. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but I just thought that it was important that Storm and Logan knew what was happening."

"Ohhhhh so it was important that Storm and Logan knew what was really happening in my life, but it wasn't important for me to know?"

"I wanted you to be able to finish college without worrying that your powers were going to come back and not be able to control them. We were going to tell you when you graduated, I swear."

"Yeah, and in the meantime I've been taken advantage of by a snake oil salesman!" Marie yelled.

"Which could have been avoided if you had told us your powers had come back," Storm said patiently. "Yes, perhaps we should have told you earlier, but we're not the only ones guilty of withholding information, Rogue."

"And maybe I would have told you if I thought any of you would actually accept my decision," Marie snapped at her. "A little support for my original decision to get the Cure would have been appreciated. It wasn't a mistake, I don't regret it, and I wish that at least one person could have understood that!"

Storm looked away from the phone. Was it possible that in their eagerness to plant the idea that it wouldn't be so bad if her powers came back, they could have forgotten something that important?

"Okay so I guess we didn't go about things the right way," said Kitty. "But please believe me, Rogue, we did have your best interests at heart and we were trying to help you."

"Speaking of which," Logan said, and move his hand up to the phone to make sure Marie heard the 'snikt' as his claws extended. "You want a hand dealing with your snake oil salesman? Maybe a claw or six?"

Marie was silent for a long moment, then replied with dignity: "I have the matter well in hand."

"Let me know if you change your mind," Logan said. "I'd be more than happy to skewer him for you."

"And I can't believe that you of all people held out on me, Logan," Marie said tersely. "I would have thought you would have been the first to tell me."

"We had a vote, majority ruled," Logan replied. "Besides, why do you think I was pushing you so hard in the danger room and the dojo?"

"Because you were making up for all the time I was in New Orleans?"

"Well, that," Logan conceded, "and I was trying to put you in a situation where you'd absorb someone instinctually."

"How did you find out, may I ask?" said Storm.

"I absorbed someone instinctually," Marie replied dryly.

Logan chuckled.

"Just how many people there know, anyway?" Marie asked.

"All the teaching staff, and a handful of the students," Storm told her. "We have learned a lot from the placebo effects of the Cure, and it is proving to be very helpful information in teaching others to learn how to control their powers."

"I'm sure it is," Marie said. "It's just a shame you never thought to share that with me!"

"Rogue—"

"No, I'm still pissed off with you, and with everyone else who knew and deliberately chose not to tell me," Marie said. "That was information I had a right to know. Information that I _needed_ to know, which could have spared me a lot of pain and anguish. Just consider yourselves lucky that I'm stuck here until June, and not until December. Maybe, _maybe_ by June I'll have calmed down enough to forgive you."

Marie hung up. There was a momentary silence in Storm's office as the three looked at each other.

"Well," said Kitty. "That went better than expected."

* * *

><p>Remy sat on the lounge in his living room. On the coffee table was a quarter of a case of beer. In his drunken stupor he was admiring the magenta beer can in his hand. He never really thought about how he charged things up with kinetic energy before, but now that he was paying attention, he could see billions of micro particles all floating around in every direction. It was fun to spin them around and make then go fast and slow. A man could get lost forever watching them.<p>

Unfortunately, the particles in his beer can seemed to keep forming Marie's face. Endless copies of Marie's face. It didn't matter which cluster of particles he looked at from the billions to choose from, he kept seeing her face. Her angry face, with eyes flashing at him in that sexy way she had, looking at him accusingly, and with full lips that kept saying the same words over and over again: "I never want to see you again."

Remy crushed the can in his hand and tossed it over his shoulder where it exploded behind him. Clearly he wasn't drunk enough yet.

* * *

><p>Marie walked into her dorm room after coming home from dinner and found Jackie sitting on her bed. For a moment the women just looked at each other.<p>

"So," said Marie dropping her bag down on the floor. "Are you here to kill me?"

"Nah," Jackie replied in all seriousness. "If I was, you'd already be dead."

"Nice to know."

"I thought you might go to the cops," Jackie said, watching Marie carefully. "After all, I have to assume you know enough about me to get me the death penalty should they actually succeed in catching me, and holding me long enough to get that far. You probably know enough to send the Guild into hiding for years."

"What? And risk Guild war when there's no heir?" Marie asked dryly. "Make your parents have another child when they don't even like kissing each other?"

"You have no reason to care about the Guild," Jackie stated.

"You're right," Marie replied. "But I do have reason to care about the X-men, and I won't risk the Assassins deciding to slaughter innocent children in retaliation."

Jackie didn't reply.

"Besides," Marie went on, "I also care about _you_, Jackie. I'm still mad at you for not telling me but...but I understand why you didn't. I know how conflicted you've been and I think that having to deal with your father being...being all over me is probably punishment enough."

"So..." Jackie said hesitantly. "We're good then?"

Marie sighed and sat down next to her.

"I don't know, sugar, but I would like to salvage our friendship if we can."

"So would I."

There was silence for a moment, then Marie turned, looked Jackie in the eye and took her hand.

"Look, Jackie," she said. "I want you to know you can confide in me, okay? I'm not a blabbermouth, and I know that you really need someone to talk to sometimes. And see, now you can talk to me about anything, even Guild stuff, if you need to."

"A very generous offer considering I tried to kill you," Jackie replied, a slight hint of suspicion in her voice.

"I can also help you control your powers," Marie went on with a slight smile.

"If you know me as well as you think you know me," Jackie said. "then you also know that I'm now not trusting you one bit."

Marie shrugged. "All I ask is the same in return, sugar. Can I confide in you? And, in a way, you did help me find out that I had control of my powers all along."

Jackie nodded slowly.

"Okay," she said, then fished something out of her pocket. "By the way, you left these behind."

Jackie turned over Marie's hand and put the something in her palm. Marie frowned when she recognised the keys to her car.

"I don't want the car," Marie said tersely, trying to hand them back to Jackie.

"Want has nothing to do with it," Jackie replied, almost smugly. "You need the car."

"No, I don't," Marie insisted.

Jackie clamped her hands around Marie's making her keep hold of the keys.

"This is the problem with you honest people. You insist on putting the wrong kind of value on things," Jackie said with obvious scorn. "The car is a tool, one you're going to need at least while you're still in college. What's more, everyone's seen it by now. What are you going to tell them when you don't show up with it tomorrow? That it was stolen? That you were in a car crash? There's this thing, it's called 'insurance'. They're going to question why you don't get a new car at the very least."

Marie closed her eyes.

"I don't want the car," she said stubbornly. "And if you tell me I conned it out of him one more time—"

"Well, when you think about it, given that the Cure he was selling you turned out to be vitamins, I have to say that you've done exceptionally well as a con artist," Jackie said wickedly. "And what I was going to say was that you're being very irrational about all this."

"Irrational!"

"Yeah, what are you concerned about? That it's going to make you think of him when you drive it?" Jackie asked. "You're not likely to forget mon père, regardless of whether you have the car or not. May as well keep it for now and prevent having to be the focus of more gossip. You can always dispose of it in the manner you see fit later."

"It's not that simple—" Marie began.

"Fine, you want it simple?" Jackie said. "You gave the car back to Papa. Papa got all stupid too, couldn't bear to look at it, so he gave it to me. Actually I stole the keys from him, but that's not the point. I don't need a second car, so I decided to give it to _my friend_ Marie, who does need a car."

Marie closed her eyes and sighed. "You're not going to go until I accept the car back, are you?"

"Pretty much," Jackie replied smugly. "I really think that the future of our friendship depends on this."

"You do not," Marie said, opening her eyes again.

"Oh yeah? You're not the only one who can put false values on things," Jackie said. "Besides, you abandoning a perfectly good, functional car because of some guy is wrecking havoc on my sense of expediency."

Marie laughed. She tapped the fingers of her free hand on her leg for a moment and finally nodded.

"Okay, sugar," she said. "I'll take the car."

"Good, 'cause it's already in the parking lot," Jackie replied. "And I think you left some college stuff in there."

"Huh," Marie grunted thoughtfully.

"See? I'm looking out for you," Jackie said with a smug tone. "I saved you from having to go back to mon pere's place and having to ask for the keys back."

Marie blanched and Jackie chuckled.

"Anyway," Jackie said, standing up and finally letting go of Marie's hand. "I should get going."

Marie nodded and stood up as well.

"Okay," she said. "Did you need a lift?"

"Nah, I'm sorted."

"Alright. Umm, Jackie?" Marie said tentatively. "About Perry..."

"I don't want to talk about it," Jackie replied tightly.

"That's fine," Marie said seriously. "You don't have to. But at least... Look, what happened was—"

"I _said_ I don't want to talk about it," Jackie interrupted angrily.

Marie took a deep breath and held Jackie's gaze.

"As I said, that's fine," Marie said patiently. "All I wanted to say was that if you ever change your mind, you can talk to me. Or, if you don't feel like you can talk to me even though I've got your memory of the night in my head, then maybe you should try going to a rape victims support group. You know how to disguise yourself: you should be able to attend a meeting without anyone recognising you, if that's what you're concerned about. If nothing else, it might help just knowing you're not alone."

Jackie turned her back on Marie and stalked to the window.

"Thanks for the advice," she replied irritably, and left without another word.

* * *

><p>Midday Tuesday, Bella Donna opened her office door and looked straight at Cassie on the other side of the room.<p>

"Has he showed yet?" Bella Donna asked.

"No ma'am," Cassie replied.

"Very well. Assume he's not coming in today."

"Already had."

Bella Donna shut the door once more and glanced at the clock for the second time in the last two minutes. With an irritable sigh she picked up her phone and dialled.

"LeBeau," said Henri upon answering the call.

"Henri, your frère is missing from the office again," Bella Donna said. "He didn't show up yesterday either, and he's not answering his phone."

"Alright," Henri said. "I'll just finish what I'm doing here, and then I'll check up on him."

"Thank you."

* * *

><p>About a half hour later, Henri arrived at Remy's house. After a couple of unanswered knocks on the door, he let himself in.<p>

The first thing to hit him was the smell. There was half a case of beer on the coffee table, and a larger than normal black patch behind the lounge. When Henri got closer he found Remy lying on the floor between the lounge and the coffee table, in a pool of his own vomit.

"Merde," Henri muttered under his breath, hurrying to Remy's side.

It was with some relief he was able to confirm that Remy was still breathing and hadn't choked on the vomit or anything. He got Remy up off the floor and onto the lounge, then when looking for things to clean up Remy and the mess with.

Remy was still out cold by the time Henri had him and the floor cleaned up. While he waited for Remy to come to, he called Mercy to let her know what was up, then Bella Donna to give her an update, and finally to Emil, asking him to go on stand by for when Remy woke up.

* * *

><p>Bella Donna had been looking forward to coming home and having an evening to herself, so when she walked through the door and discovered Henri and Remy in the lounge room, she was not at all impressed.<p>

"What is going on here?" she demanded, glaring at Henri who had quickly gotten up at her arrival.

"Belle," Henri said urgently with a nervous glance back at Remy. "This one's bad."

Bella Donna paused and looked at her estranged husband. He was just staring straight ahead. He hadn't even so much as looked at her. She frowned slightly.

"What makes you say that?" she asked.

"He won't go to the brothel," Henri replied, shaking his head. "Emil tried everything he could think of to talk him into it. He just refuses to go. He's only said five words to us: 'No' and 'It's not the same'. Emil tried calling the Rising Sun to see if they'd send anyone out—the Madam flatly refused, but she did say that Remy hasn't been there in months. We can't get the names of his mistresses out of him either. The only one we know about is Marie. We can't get his phone off him, and the only other person we know who can contact Marie is Jackie and well... Yeah, neither Emil nor I have any interest in asking Jackie to arrange a booty call for her père."

"No, of course not," Bella Donna said, frowning thoughtfully at Remy. "Why is he here?"

"Well, I was hardly going to leave him home alone in this state," Henri replied. "The mansion's too big, it would be too easy for him to evade us, and we've got drinks stashed everywhere. Here it's much easier to keep an eye on him."

"And I don't keep alcohol here," Bella Donna added, flashing Henri a dark look.

"Good thing too," Henri said dryly. "The first thing he did when he finally woke up was head straight for liquor cabinet. He reeked of so much alcohol when I found him I wondered if he'd been drinking himself silly the whole weekend. Belle... I haven't seen him this bad before."

Bella Donna nodded slowly.

"I shall call Jackie," she said.

"I wasn't hinting—"

"I know," Bella Donna assured him. "Jackie isn't a child any more, though. I think it's about time she knew. Would you stay here for the time being?"

Henri nodded. "Of course."

* * *

><p>Jackie was more than a little surprised when she arrived at her home and found Henri and Remy in the lounge room. It had been years since she last saw Remy at home, let alone Henri as a visitor. Henri noticed her arrival and gestured towards the kitchen. Remy just stared blankly at the wall and didn't even acknowledge her, if he even saw her.<p>

"Maman?" Jackie inquired as she entered the kitchen.

"Bon, you're here," said Bella Donna from behind a cup of coffee. "Have a seat."

Jackie sat down on the bar stood at the kitchen counter beside her mother.

"What's Papa and Oncle Henri doing here?" Jackie asked.

"That's why I asked you to come," Bella Donna said gravely. "There's something you need to know about your père. We didn't tell you earlier because we didn't want to worry you but...well, you're an adult now, and it's about time you knew the truth."

Jackie eyed Bella Donna apprehensively. This seemed to be the week of people learning 'truths'.

"Oh?" Jackie asked.

"Your père hates himself."

Jackie blinked, then burst out laughing. Bella Donna sipped her coffee while she waited for Jackie to get over her laugher.

"I see he's got you fooled too," Bella Donna said blandly.

"You're not serious," said Jackie with obvious skepticism. "Papa hates himself? Papa?"

"I'm very serious Jacqueline," Bella Donna said, putting down her mug and looking her daughter in the eye. "He truly hates himself, and has done for years. I'm not entirely sure when it started, but if I were to pick a day, I would choose the day of Etienne's Tilling."

"Etienne?" Jackie frowned. "Etienne who?"

"His cousin, Etienne Marceaux. Theoren's little brother."

"Theoren has a little brother?" Jackie asked in surprise.

"He did," Bella Donna said softly. "He died. Remy was his Registrar on his Tilling. Something went wrong, and they got captured by slavers. Etienne died during the escape. Remy has never forgiven himself."

Jackie's frown deepened. "Is that why Papa and Theoren don't get along?"

"Theoren has always blamed Remy for Etienne's death," Bella Donna said with a nod of confirmation, and then continued matter-of-factly: "We didn't realise at the time how badly it affected Remy. And then Julien set him up, and he was gone deux years, abducted and experimented on by Stryker. I've always wondered about that. Why did it take him deux years to escape? Did it actually take him that long to get out? Or did he deliberately linger, believing he deserved the treatment he got?"

Jackie's eyes widened in horror. "You're not serious."

Bella Donna picked up her mug again.

"It's just a thought," she said. "I have no way of proving my theory one way or another. Only your père knows the answer to that one."

Jackie glanced in the direction of the lounge room, although she had no chance of seeing her father through the walls.

"Sometimes he has these...rough patches, I suppose," Bella Donna went on. "It pretty easy to tell when he's having one: it's the only time he ever drinks heavily. Heavily and relentlessly. Your Oncle Henri and Emil figured out if they get him laid, they can get him out of his slump."

"I see," Jackie said slowly. "Is...is Papa having one now?"

"Oui."

"Why is he here then?" Jackie asked, then gave her mother an alarmed look. "You and Papa aren't—"

"Perish the thought," Bella Donna replied. "He's here because Henri needed somewhere to keep him where he could be watched and kept away from any more alcohol. He refuses to go to the brothel, and the only mistress of his they know about is Marie, and they have no way of contacting her."

Jackie pressed her lips together and said nothing. She was not bringing Marie back into this. No way. Not that it would work, anyway, seeing as how Remy and Marie weren't sleeping together in the first place.

"It's funny," Bella Donna said thoughtfully. "Henri said Remy hasn't been to the Rising Sun in months. That's his favourite brothel."

Jackie still didn't say anything and Bella Donna had another sip of her coffee.

"In any case, none of that is really the point," Bella Donna said. "Henri and Emil figured out that sex helps Remy get out of his slump, but they never bothered to ask themselves _why_ it gets him out."

"And you did?" Jackie asked.

"As I said, Remy hates himself," Bella Donna said, looking at the wall, rather than at Jackie. "He relies on others to give him what he can't give himself: love."

Jackie looked at her mother for a long moment.

"Okay," said Jackie. "I'm trying to remember that you're being serious, but right now I feel like I'm in some sappy Hallmark movie or something."

Bella Donna looked at her daughter with grave eyes.

"This is no laughing matter, Jacqueline," she said firmly. "Your papa goes through woman after woman because to him sex is confirmation that he's worthy of love. He even lies to himself when he sleeps with women he's paid."

"How can you even know that?" Jackie asked.

"Hmph, I knew your père even before Jean-Luc adopted him, to say nothing of being married twenty-three years. I just wish I'd known in the beginning of our marriage what I do now," Bella Donna said, then sighed regretfully. "I should have realised that the brown-eyed man I married was not the red-eyed boy I fell in love with."

Jackie fidgeted uncomfortably.

"I should have realised he wouldn't cheat on me," Bella Donna said, and looked down at her coffee. "I really don't know who cheated first any more. I was so sure it was him, but... The only thing I'm certain of now is that regardless of who cheated first, he only cheated because I drove him to it."

Bella Donna sipped more of her coffee and Jackie licked her lips nervously.

"There are deux reasons why I called you here tonight," Bella Donna said, setting her almost empty coffee mug on the counter top. "The first was to fill you in on your père's...condition. We didn't want to worry you as a child, but it's important that you know now."

"And the second?" Jackie asked.

"He's in a bad way this time. You may be the only one capable of snapping him out of it."

"I'm not calling Marie," Jackie said firmly, shaking her head.

"No one said you had to," Bella Donna replied calmly.

"Then what?"

Bella Donna offered Jackie a slight smile. "Your papa loves you very much."

Jackie's eyes widened in horror. "You're not suggesting that I—"

"Don't be utterly ridiculous, Jacqueline. I would never ask that of you, and Remy would certainly never want or expect that from you," Bella Donna said. "Nevertheless, you are his daughter, and when you were much younger and I started to notice his slumps, I also discovered that I could snap him out of it by leaving you in his care for an hour or so."

Jackie looked unconvinced.

"You grew up of course, and I stopped being able to do that while you were off making a life for yourself, as all children do. Remy started spending more and more time in brothels and with mistresses," Bella Donna said with a sigh. "What he really needs is some therapy, but...he's never going to get that."

Jackie nodded, understanding why that was the case. Telling the whole truth to an outsider was risky business, and not a decision Remy would make lightly, even if he was inclined to get help.

Bella Donna reached out her hand and stroked Jackie's cheek gently. "I don't think you quite realise the profound effect you have on your papa, chère. I can tell you one thing though, if you go out there and tell him you love him, his face will light up faster than the Fourth of July."

Bella Donna ignored the dubious expression on Jackie's face and finished off her coffee.

"Come," she said, standing up. "I'll divert Henri and let you have some privacy."

Jackie slowly got up and followed her mother to the living room. Bella Donna called Henri's attention, and as Henri left the room, Jackie sat down next to Remy.

"Hi Papa," she said, feeling very awkward about the whole situation.

Slowly Remy's head turned towards her, his face blank.

"Hi," he replied quietly, not really meeting her eyes.

Jackie chewed her lip nervously. She couldn't remember the last time she told her father she loved him, and if her mother was right, then that meant it had been way too long.

"So, umm," Jackie said. "I'm really sorry about what happened with Marie."

Well, she wasn't really. She was actually thrilled to pieces that their farce of a relationship was finally over. Knowing full well that the Cure was a fake, Jackie had been convinced that Remy only wanted Marie for sex and that telling Marie he loved her was just all part of his scheme to get her into bed. The idea that he might have actually meant it...

Remy just gave Jackie the barest nod of acknowledgement. It was so strange seeing her father so quiet and subdued.

"You know," Jackie went on, "it occurs to me that we haven't really spent much time together in recent years. So I was wondering if maybe you wanted to do something on Saturday?"

The smallest hint of a smile quirked at the corner of Remy's mouth.

"Sure," he said.

Feeling encouraged by the faint spark of hope in his eyes, Jackie smiled at him.

"Great," she said, hesitated for only a moment and finally said: "I love you, Papa."

Bella Donna was right, Jackie decided, Remy's face really did light up like the Fourth of July.

"I love you too, Sunshine," he replied.

Jackie leaned in to give Remy a hug, and he hugged her back tightly. For the first time in her life, the significance of his nicknames for her hit home: Sunshine, as in "little ray of sunshine", something that makes him happy. All her life he'd been telling her how happy she made him, and she never had any idea.

"You know what? We should make up for lost time and make a day of it," Jackie said.

"I'd like that," Remy replied.

"Good, and _I'll_ pick _you_ up this time," Jackie said smugly as she pulled away from the hug, but kept her hands on him. "Will you be at home? Or will you still be here on Saturday?"

Remy paused as if only just registering where he was.

"Uhh, no, definitely at home," he said ruefully.

"Alright then," Jackie said, grinning at him. "I'll pick you up at seven for breakfast."


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

To say that Jackie had been given some food for thought was putting it mildly. Jackie couldn't understand why she'd never seen this side of Remy before. Okay sure, when she'd been a little kid maybe, but older? When she knew about things like depression and alcoholism?

She was also somewhat perturbed by the idea that she was capable of 'snapping him out of it'. Did that mean his self-esteem was completely dependant on her? That she was somehow responsible for keeping him sane and happy? No, Jackie decided. If her father was truly that dependant on her, he wouldn't have taken things are far as he did with Marie. Now she didn't know if she was happy or not about that. As much as she enjoyed having her father wrapped around her little finger, as it were, she didn't really want him that tightly wrapped around her finger.

"Oh hey, Jackie," said Edmund, approaching her in the hallway. "I'm glad I caught you."

Jackie frowned slightly at him. "You okay?"

"Uh no, actually," Edmund replied, not looking her in the eye. "Actually I just found out my father died."

"Mon dieu, Ed, I'm so sorry," Jackie said. This seemed to be her day for bad news about fathers.

"Thanks. I'm umm, I'm going to be flying home for the funeral, umm..." Edmund fished a key out of his pocket. "Look, would you mind feeding my fish while I'm away? I left instructions by the tank."

Jackie nodded and accepted the key, resisting the urge to mention she could pick his lock any time she wanted.

"Sure," she said. "Anything else you need me to do?"

"No, just the fish," Edmund said. "And you can hide out in there if the harpies start screeching again."

"Thanks," Jackie replied, offering him a sympathetic smile. "May I ask how he went?"

"Aneurysm. He went like that." Edmund snapped his fingers. "Guess I should be glad he didn't suffer."

Jackie nodded and gave him and hug. "You have a good flight, okay?"

"I will, thanks."

Edmund turned from her then, and went back into his apartment.

Jackie continued down the hall and let herself into the apartment she shared with Phillis and Lisha. The two women were curled up on the lounge and watching TV, looking very cute and in love. It was sickening. Jackie wondered how long before the next hat dropped and they started shrieking at each other again.

Jackie continued into her room and set Edmund's key down on the desk. She turned her computer on and tried to get her thoughts in order while it started up.

How could her father hate himself? Why would he blame his cousin's death on himself? Death was something that happened, and it wasn't like Remy would have killed him himself or anything. Jackie frowned at that thought; okay so she didn't know exactly how Etienne died, only that they'd been 'escaping from slavers'. Still, Jackie found it hard to believe that Remy wouldn't have done everything he could have to keep Etienne alive. More likely something happened when he was at Strykers. Torture could do all sorts of psychological damage to a person.

Jackie had almost convinced herself that Styker must have been the real cause of Remy's problem, when it occurred to her that this was the first she ever heard of a little brother of Theoren's, and Remy, like most Thieves, had a very different attitude to death than Assassins. Jackie was having a hard time wrapping her head around a death screwing someone up like that, but then remembered how dispirited Edmund looked talking about his father's death just a few moments ago. She remembered her mother talking about how much she loved her brother, and how she feared that one day she might have to make the decision to execute him. It was very easy to kill someone you didn't know, Bella Donna had told her once, a lot harder to kill someone you loved.

The computer finished starting up and Jackie sat down. She decided she didn't like this train of thought. The idea of seeing a loved one die screwing you over for life was not a concept she was happy with. The idea of killing someone who had screwed you over, however, had a great deal of appeal.

Jackie shivered slightly as Perry came back to her mind. She wished his memory would stop haunting her. She'd dealt with him. Why wouldn't he go away? Stupid upstart amateur trying to kill _her_. She should have done more than just burning him alive from the balls first. She didn't like to think how close he'd come to succeeding.

A thought occurred to her, and she picked up her Guild phone, with its lovely secured line, and called up Marie.

"Hello?" said Marie upon answering.

"Hey Marie," Jackie said. "Have you got a minute?"

"Yeah sure, I was just working on another paper anyway," Marie replied. "Interruptions are good."

Jackie chuckled a little.

"I was wondering, umm...the thing with Perry," she said hesitantly, then barrelled on quickly before Marie could say anything. "How did I survive the ether? Do you know? I mean, I figured my powers were responsible, but I just... I mean, ether's highly flammable and I... Well I thought I made things go boom but apparently I have this micro-kinesis thing and I...yeah."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment.

"Well, I can't actually access the memory on cue, so I can't tell you exactly what happened," Marie replied seriously. "I can give you a theory."

"That'll do."

"Well, you know how our bodies have automatic responses to things? This extends to mutant abilities. Like, my friend Logan has a healing factor. I once saw him shot in the head. He was out for the count, but he didn't die, because the moment he was shot, his healing factor kicked in and took care of the damage. I imagine something similar happened with you: Your body registered that you were breathing in a lethal dose of ether, and it took steps to deal with it. I'm assuming that it rearranged the particles making up the ether and turned it into something harmless or otherwise found a way to expel it from your system. You didn't need to be conscious for that part, because it was something your body's automatic defences was able to take care of on its own."

"And I can do that? Rearrange particles?"

"You have been doing it," Marie said gently. "You've been doing it to make your 'illusions'. That's why you can only work with what you have."

"Oh right," Jackie said, just now remembering Marie had already told her that. "Heh, at least now I don't feel so inadequate about not being able to create big, scenery altering illusions any more."

Marie laughed.

"Anyway, I should go," Jackie said, hesitated briefly while she wondered if she should mention Remy, and decided against it. "Thanks for clearing that up for me. It's been bothering me."

"I can understand that. If you ever need any more help with your powers, just let me know," Marie said.

"I will. Speaking of which, I should have asked earlier," said Jackie. "How are your powers coming?"

"It's weird actually," said Marie, "but it's been really easy to settle into the idea that I've got them under control. I haven't absorbed anyone—other than you, of course—and all my voices are just as quiet as ever. I guess it kind of helps having you in my head to reassure me I have everything under control."

"Glad I could help."

Marie chuckled and they hung up not long after that.

Jackie tapped on the desk. She felt a little better hearing Marie's theory on how she survived the ether, but Jakcie was still unsettled about the whole incident. It frustrated her: it had been just before Thanksgiving last year that it happened. She should be over it by now.

But she wasn't.

And then she was hearing Bella Donna saying in one ear that Remy needed therapy, and Marie in the other, repeating her suggestion that she go to a rape victims support group.

Jackie sighed and opened her internet browser to do a search for such groups in the area. She felt really stupid; she didn't even remember the act itself—only being knocked out and then taking her revenge—yet the incident kept coming back to haunt her, and it was driving her crazy. She found a few phone numbers to call, which she doubted she would, but she also found a few addresses which she made note of with the intention of checking them out.

When the research started making Jackie think about the incident far too much for her liking, making her feel small and powerless, which she hated, she closed the relevant windows. She started a new search, this one on aneurysms, because she found that reading about blood vessel walls weakening and the possibility of strokes and death from rupturing was much more comforting to read.

* * *

><p>Remy couldn't believe he was actually nervous about spending the day with his daughter. Nervous before going on a first date? Sure. Nervous before going on a special date that he'd put a lot of time and effort into planning and really wanted to be well accepted? Frequently. But going out with his daughter? Why should he be nervous about that? And yet he was.<p>

He was also happy as a clam when she pulled up outside his house and knocked on the door. She greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and he joined her in the car, much too happy about his reception than to feel disconcerted about sitting in the passenger seat for the first time in years.

Jackie took them out to the Cafe Du Monde for breakfast. They made small talk over their coffee and beignets, catching up with each other while avoiding hot button topics like Marie, Bella Donna, and astronaut vs caveman.

"So," said Remy when the last of his coffee was gone, "what's the plan for today?"

"I have no idea," Jackie replied. "I'm just making it up as I go along."

Remy chuckled.

"Bowling?" he suggested. "Pool? Go-karting? Plaster painting?"

Jackie laughed.

"Let's go plaster painting," she said, grinning at him. "Wait...would they be open now?"

Remy shrugged. "We can drive by and find out."

They finished up at the Cafe Du Monde, then headed out to the plaster painting place. It wasn't open for another hour or so, and they decided to just sit in the car while they waited. For some reason, conversation in the car felt more awkward than over breakfast.

Once the store did open, they spent a good fifteen minutes looking through the available models and trying to decide what they wanted to paint. Jackie eventually decided on a flying horse and Remy selected a mermaid.

"Trust you to want to paint a topless woman," Jackie said.

Remy shrugged. "Her hair covers up all the fun parts."

Conversation ceased while they concentrated on their painting, the only words they said to each other were things like "that's looking good" and "can you pass the pink?"

"Papa?" Jackie said after a moment watching Remy paint his mermaid.

"Mmm?" Remy replied, carefully putting just a little more brown paint on his brush.

"Are you trying to paint Marie?"

"No..."

"Then why does she have white hair at the front?"

"I just haven't finished painting it brown yet," Remy replied seriously.

"Uh huh," Jackie said skeptically. "And I notice she has green eyes."

"They match her green tail," Remy said with a nod.

"Uh huh."

"Hey, I'm just painting a mermaid that can blend in with her environment," Remy said.

"Any resemblance to people real or fictional is coincidental?" Jackie as dryly.

"Exactly! See, the green tail will help her blend in with sea weed and the brown hair with rock," Remy said nodding.

"Oh yeah? Why the pale skin?"

"Sand, or maybe when other sea creatures look up she'll blend in with the surface of the water."

"With rocks and seaweed."

"Exactly!"

"I think brown skin would work better for blending in, or maybe a pale blue."

"Paint your own mermaid then."

"If I was going to paint my own mermaid, I'd screw this bending in nonsense," said Jackie. "She'd be pink."

Remy laughed. "She might be able to blend in with a coral reef then."

"Yeah maybe," Jackie said, grinning at him.

"How's Pegasus coming?" Remy asked.

"This is not Pegasus," Jackie informed him. "Pegasus is white. My flying horse is pink."

"Oh, right. My mistake."

"Oui, it was. Now, where's the glitter paint?"

Once they were satisfied with their models, they took them up to the counter to be glossed and waited for them to dry.

"Huh," Remy said looking at his watch. "Much later than I thought. Wanna stop somewhere for lunch?"

"What time is it?" Jackie asked, while looking at the clock on her phone. "Hmm, I think lunch is a good idea, but we need to go by my place first."

"Oh?"

"Lisha and Phillis will be home and I want to pretend I've forgotten something," Jackie said, her eyes bright with mischief. "You'll have to wait outside though, but I shall conveniently forget to close the front door because I'll 'only be a second'."

Remy snickered. "You want me to freak out your man-hating housemates, hein?"

"As long as you don't so much as put a toe through the front door, they can't say I've brought a male into their female-only zone," Jackie said gleefully. "I've been having so much fun pushing things. I was cooking dinner a few weeks ago and I deliberately put everything I was using—utensils, ingredients, whatever—into 'dick and balls' arrangements."

Remy laughed.

"Freaked Phillis out completely, especially when I licked the spatula," Jackie said. "Phallic symbols are awesome. And best of all I was able to act all innocent like I had no idea what they were talking about. When I was, ahem, 'enlightened', I got to accuse them of having dirty minds. You have got to meet them."

"Alright then," said Remy. "Guess I've got to meet them."

Two dry plaster models and a car trip later, Remy was leaning on the wall outside the apartment that Jackie shared. He caught a glimpse of her two housemates when she opened the door, although they didn't notice him immediately.

"Bonjour mam'selles," Remy said when they did catch his eye.

"Jackie!" Lisha called shrilly. "You've left the damn door open and now all the perverts can see in!"

Remy kept his laughter to himself.

"Whoops, désolé chère, I'll be out in a second," Jackie called back.

Lisha pulled herself out of the couch, and stalked over to the door.

"Back off, and take your tiny dick with you," she snapped.

"I'm just waiting for Jackie," Remy replied mildly. "Don't mean to intrude."

"Jackie," Lisha screeched again. "Get your ugly-ass boyfriend out of here."

"First," Jackie said, emerging from her room, "he's not in the apartment. Second, that's not my boyfriend, that's _mon pere_. You're disgusting."

"I don't care what he is. He's a man, he needs to go."

"Don't get your knickers in knot," Jackie replied. "I'd just forgotten my phone, and now I'm going to go back to spending some long overdue quality time with Papa. I don't know why you're freaking out; if I hadn't forgotten to shut then door you wouldn't have even known he was there."

Jackie departed, making sure to shut the door behind her and grinned at Remy. "Remind me to bring chocolate cake home tonight."

"Oh?" Remy inquired.

"It's their weakness," Jackie said, her eyes twinkling with mischief. "If I come bearing chocolate cake to share tonight, it won't matter if they've plotted to kick me out after this or not: they won't."

Remy laughed as he followed her down the hallway. "Got them all figured out, have you?"

"Oui. According to Ed they went through three housemates in seven months or something," Jackie said. "I've been with them four months now."

"I'm suitably impressed," said Remy. "Ed's the neighbour, right?"

"Yeah," Jackie said, getting quiet. "His father died this week. He's gone back to England for the funeral."

"Ahh," Remy said. "Well, next time you see him, pass on my condolences."

"I will."

Remy wondered as they headed back down to Jackie's car and got in, if maybe that was why Jackie had decided on this father/daughter day. He was so sure after what happened with Marie that he'd irreparably ruined his relationship with Jackie. He'd never intended for it to go that way, but there was no way for him to explain to Jackie how he felt about Marie that she'd appreciate. And then when Jackie had gone after Marie with her knife... Well, that should have been it then. Putting Jackie in a position where she thought she needed to kill her best friend? Remy had been convinced there was no coming back from that. He certainly wasn't going to jeopardise things again.

They stopped for lunch at one of their favourite places, and finally decided to go back to Remy's place to play board games.

"Battleship?" Jackie suggested, going through Remy's collection in the store under the staircase.

"Uhh," Remy said awkwardly, his mind going straight to the game of Strip Battleship he'd played with Marie only last week. "Not today. How about Monopoly?"

"Nah, I'm not in the mood for Monopoly," Jackie replied. "Oooh, let's play Ticket to Ride. We haven't played that in ages."

"Heh, okay," Remy agreed.

He pulled down the board game and while he set it up, Jackie continued looking at the available board games. She noticed a shoe box on one shelf, relatively dust free, and opened it up. Inside she found three G I Joe action figures and their accessories.

"Papa?" Jackie said, a slight frown on her face, "since when did you play with dolls?"

"Huh?" Remy asked, looked up from the table and then spotted the shoe box. "Oh that. I... Marie gave me those. She seemed to take it as a personal affront that I never really had any toys as a kid."

He went back to busying himself with setting up the game.

"She has some weird ideas sometimes," Jackie said, shaking her head and putting it back in the cupboard. "So, have you played with them?"

"Uhh...maybe."

Jackie grinned at Remy as she sat down at the table. "Did you make them kiss?"

Remy caught Jackie's eyes. Jackie started giggling.

"You did, didn't you?" she teased him as he sat down.

"It's like an unwritten law or something," Remy replied.

"Since when do you care about laws, written or otherwise?" Jackie asked.

"I always care about laws when they work in my favour."

Jackie laughed and the game began.

"So, uhh," Remy said, picking up his destination cards. "How is Marie? Have you spoken to her at all?"

"Not about you, if that's what you're asking," Jackie replied, keeping her eyes on the board and her voice professional.

"No, just...just a general inquiry," Remy said.

"She's fine," Jackie said tersely. "We've come to an understanding about the whole security risk thing, so I don't have to kill her after all. Oh, and her powers are under control too."

Remy nodded. "Good to know."

He regretted bringing the subject up. It was nice to know that Marie was okay, but the atmosphere had become noticeably tense. He looked for a way to change the subject and relieve the tension, and ended up saying the first thing that came to mind, wasn't actually a change of subject at all:

"The first one was real."

Jackie looked up, a slight frown on her face. "Come again?"

"The first dose of the Cure I gave her," Remy said quietly. "It was real."

"I thought you were out," Jackie said.

"It was my last one. I was saving it for a...special occasion."

Jackie fell silent, not really sure what to say to that. They continued playing; picking up cards, putting down cars and keeping track of the score with the markers around the edge of the board. As they played, Remy felt more and more compelled to talk about it, even knowing Jackie probably didn't want to discuss it.

"I wasn't going to ask her to be my mistress for subsequent doses," Remy said softly, when he could hold his tongue no more. "I was going to show you my vault, and well, there's quite a bit in there. If a vial went missing occasionally, I wouldn't have noticed."

Jackie set down her cars on the board with careful precision. He had originally planned not to exploit Marie? To let her 'steal' from him?

"So...why didn't you?" Jackie asked finally.

Remy was silent for a long moment. Finally he sighed.

"It's going to sound stupid," he said.

"Well, we've gotten this far in the conversation," Jackie replied blandly, keeping her eyes on the game and not looking at her father at all.

"She called me Swamp Rat."

"You're right, that does sound stupid."

"It was a symptom of the real...umm, problem," Remy replied ruefully. "She's my type. And I don't just mean physically, I mean personality, mentally, that kind of thing. I got this little taste of her during the deux weeks we were together and I just... I _had_ to get to know her better. But I knew we wouldn't really get to know each other the conventional way, so I made an opportunity."

"Well, you know, if you had stuck to your original plan you might have had that opportunity," Jackie said.

Remy reply to that was to raise his eyebrow and wait until Jackie had noticed his silence and looked at him.

"Yeah, okay, probably not," she reluctantly conceded and went back to picking up cards. "But in my defence, within minutes of meeting Marie you asked her for sex and—"

Jackie broke off, the significance of that request only now occurring to her: Remy had been drunk that night. Did that mean...? Had he been depressed that night? She could practically hear Bella Donna's voice echoing in her head: "sex is confirmation that he's worthy of love."

"Point taken," Remy said, not seeming to notice anything wrong with her abrupt silence. "Look, Jackie, I swear, I never meant to hurt you, and I am so sorry for putting you in that position."

Jackie didn't reply.

"I knew so many times that I should just end things but I..." Remy hesitated, then barrelled on: "I know you're not going to like hearing this, but somewhere along the line I...I fell in love, and I couldn't let her go."

"That's not love, that's an overload of hormones and pheromones and a great big dose of self-deception," Jackie replied. "What? Do you _like _lying to yourself?"

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she could hear her mother's voice saying "He even lies to himself when he sleeps with women he's paid."

"Well, I lie to everyone else," Remy replied evenly. "Anyway, it's...it's over now."

Jackie didn't feel like it was really over, but she didn't say anything and conversation drifted off while they finished their game. Remy used up the last of his cars, and Jackie had her final turn. They tallied up the bonuses on their destination cards and Jackie was declared the winner.

"Is it really over?" Jackie asked as she watched Remy pack up the game.

"Is what over?" Remy asked.

"You and Marie. You're not going to go chasing after her again?"

Remy sighed as he scooped up the plastic cars and put them away.

"Honestly? There's nothing more I'd like to do than to go after Marie and see if I can convince her to forgive me," he said. "But I'm not putting you in the pot again, Sunshine."

Jackie smiled faintly at the poker reference.

"And Marie's made it very clear to me on multiple occasions that she doesn't want to date a married man." There was no hiding his bitter tone. "Even if she did forgive me, I doubt we could just be friends."

"Huh," Jackie said, frowning slightly.

"What?" Remy asked, putting the last of the pieces into the box.

"I just... You don't usually step down from challenges," Jackie said. "It's not really like you to play dead."

"Au contraire, Sunshine," Remy replied, placing the lid on the box. "Sometimes playing dead is a bigger risk than running. You never know when some guard is going to come up to and give you a good kick in the side to see if you're still alive."

Jackie laughed lightly and Remy grinned at her.

"Like I said, I ain't putting you in the pot again," he said. "Some stakes are too high."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that," Jackie said wryly.

"One of the tricks to being successful in poker? Knowing when to fold," Remy said.

"You can only play the hand you're dealt?" Jackie suggested with a slight smile.

"Exactly," Remy said, pulling out a deck of playing cards. "And right now I'm looking at two and a seven, off suit."

"Worst opening hand you can get right?"

"Oui," he said, shuffling the cards.

Jackie leaned forward. "What if the Flop is all twos and sevens?"

"You kick yourself for folding," Remy replied with a grin.

"Well, not if you had the big blind," Jackie pointed out. "If you had the big blind and no one raised, you get a free look at the flop."

"True."

"And a Full House is the second best hand."

"Also true."

"See? You can still win on the worst opening hand in the game."

Remy gave Jackie a long look. "Are you encouraging me to go after Marie?"

Jackie froze. "N-no, I was just...you know...playing devil's advocate."

"Just checking," Remy said. "I wouldn't want there to be any misunderstandings between us."

"Neither," Jackie said, watching Remy shuffling the cards still. "You going to deal or what?"

Remy shrugged. "Any particular game? I was just fidgety."

"No, not really, I was just wondering."

There was silence for a moment, and then:

"You could still beat a full house of twos and sevens," said Remy. "If one of the other players had, say, a three and a seven, and the Turn or the River turned out to be a three, they'd win. That's assuming deux of the cards in the Flop are sevens."

"The Turn's the fourth community card and the River's the fifth, right?" Jackie asked.

"Oui."

"Oh good. I'm always getting them mixed up."

Remy chuckled.

"Still, if a two and a seven is the worst hand, and you've got the big blind, why would another player play a three and a seven?" Jackie asked.

"Maybe they're a beginner and don't know any better. Or maybe they had the small blind and decided to go for it," Remy replied, paused then added: "Or maybe they had a hunch."

Jackie laughed.

"Doesn't have to be a three," said Remy. "I just picked that because it's higher than two."

"Everything's higher than two," Jackie said.

"Exactly," Remy said with a nod. "Two's a very weak card on his own. He needs the support of others to amount to anything, whether it's the company of other twos, or others of the same suit, or others to make up a straight. Aces, of course, are at the top of the food chain: Deux aces is the best opening hand you can get, and you could still lose."

"Like, if say, you have a two and a seven, the big blind and the Flop turns out to be trois twos?" Jackie asked mischievously.

Remy laughed.

"Oui," he said. "Four of a Kind will beat a Full House."

He put down the cards and reached across the table to touch Jackie's cheek.

"I'm very proud of you," Remy said fondly. "I just want you to know that."

Jackie smiled and curled her fingers in his.

"Merci, Papa," she said. "I'm proud of you too."

Remy chuckled. "Nice to know."

He pulled his hand away again, and started fiddling with the cards once more. There was quiet for a time, then Remy stood up.

"Come on," he said. "I think it's well past time I showed you the vault."

"Oooh 'the vault'," Jackie said as she stood. "That sounds ominous."

Remy chuckled and walked into the laundry. "I had always intended to show you and give you access to it. I know you don't really live here, but this is your home...kind of...and I think you have a right to know about it."

"Well, thanks," Jackie said.

She watched curiously as Remy opened up one of the doors to the laundry cupboard and peered inside when he gestured for her to do so. The only thing in this half of the cupboard was an ironing board, which surprised Jackie a little as she didn't think her father did any ironing.

"Put your hand up there, right in the corner," Remy said, pointing to the far top corner.

Jackie stepped gingerly into the gap, avoiding the ironing board, and put her hand up into the indicated corner. Her finger found a depression.

"Found it?" Remy asked.

"Oui."

"Push it in."

Jackie did so. There was a faint clicking noise and then the back of the cupboard slid open, revealing a key pad and a door handle on the right side. Jackie turned her head to look at Remy and receive further instructions.

"Okay, on the left side, opposite to the handle, you should be able to feel a slot," Remy said.

Jackie used her left hand to feel for the slot and found it running vertically. "Found it."

"Bon," Remy said and handed her a playing card. "Slide this into it."

Jackie did so. There was another click, and Remy reached in to give the door a good push. The opened door inwards, and revealed a small room.

"Wait so...what's the key pad for?" Jackie asked, gesturing to the key pad in question, and the unused door handle.

"Red herring," Remy replied, grinning, "or booby trap, take your pick."

Jackie laughed softly and walked through the doorway. She stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. One wall was full of monitors, each one focused on a different part of Remy's house. There was a combined fridge and freezer, a table, a chair and a microwave in one corner and a toilet in the other. There were also a couple of cupboards and plenty of shelves. On the wall opposite all the monitors there was a cabinet full of photos, photo albums, and other things of sentimental value.

Remy closed the door behind him and found Jackie staring at all the photos.

"They're all copies," he said, "in case anything happens to the copies in the house or on the computer."

Jackie nodded. Most of them were family photos. There were lots of photos of her growing up. There were even a couple of photos of Marie, from their camping trip by the looks. There was one photo of them sitting next to each other, Remy with his arm around Marie and Marie leaning into him, actually looking sincerely happy. Jackie turned away.

"What's this about?" Jackie asked gesturing to the kitchen facilities. "Planning for a siege?"

Remy shrugged. "This was the original laundry that came with the house, toilet and all. I figured, hey, if there's a toilet in here, I may as well provide a use for it. 'Sides, all of this _is_ planning for the worst case scenario."

Jackie looked back at all the monitors.

"I had no idea this place was under surveillance," she said, looking for any monitor depicting her room.

"Good," Remy said. "I'd be very disappointed if you could find the cameras. They're tiny little things, blend in very well with their environment. They were state of the art when I stole them."

Jackie chuckled. "Where's my room?"

Remy pointed to two of the uppermost screens. "That's your window on the outside, and that's the doorway in the hall."

"So...there's none in my room?" she asked cautiously.

"The point of the cameras is to be able to record uninvited guests," Remy said. "I'm not interested in spying on you, especially not in your bedroom, Sunshine. There aren't any in the bathrooms or my bedroom either; just on entry and exit points. And public areas of course."

Jackie nodded, glancing at the monitor for the living room before looking back at her father.

"Now, this over here," Remy said, gesturing to a key pad on the wall, "is not a red herring."

Jackie chuckled and joined him.

"Password is 'sunshine' backwards and converted to numbers," Remy said, tapping it in.

Jackie had no chance to comment on this before another door opened, this one revealing a server rack.

"This is the computer which takes care of the monitoring system," Remy said. "I keep everything that's been recorded, and since I put this all in right after I moved, there's a lot of footage in here."

"I just bet there is," Jackie replied.

Remy talked her through how the system worked and Jackie listen carefully.

"And there you have it," Remy said, shutting things up again. "Now, before you leave, just check that screen there to make sure no one's in the laundry."

Jackie glanced at the screen in question, and they soon left the vault.

"Well," said Jackie as they returned to the dining room. "That was certainly enlightening."

Remy chuckled. "I'm sure it was, Sunshine. Just remember, when you're in the laundry cupboard getting in, close the door."

"I will. You keep the Cure in there?"

"Oui," Remy said wryly. "Not that that's useful information any more."

Jackie shrugged as they sat back down at the dining table.

"Good to know, anyway," she said, paused, and then went on: "I notice you have some photos of Marie in there."

"Yeah," was Remy's only reply.

"Camping trip?"

"Oui."

Jackie considered her father thoughtfully, particularly in the light of his terse reply.

"You guys had fun on the trip, didn't you?" she asked.

"That we did," Remy replied, looking towards the liquor cabinet in the kitchen. "That's when I knew I'd fallen in love with her."

Jackie winced, and Remy met her eyes. Jackie got his message: "Drop it, I don't walk to talk about it."

"When you knew you'd, ahem, 'fallen in love'?" she asked anyway, having a perverse need to prod at his wounds. "As opposed to the day you had actually 'fallen in love'? Like it's possible to deceive yourself prior to making the decision to deceive yourself?"

Remy was silent for a long moment. He leaned on his arms on the table.

"Sometimes your heart knows how you feel about someone before your mind does," he said with stiff patience. "At some point I feel in love with Marie. It was during the camping trip that my mind finally got the message. I've loved women before, Jackie, but the intensity of what I feel about Marie is...is unmistakable. What I feel for her, makes all the love I've ever felt for any other girlfriend—including your mère—pale in comparison."

There was silence for a moment, and then:

"And I swear, Jackie, I really hope that one day you feel for someone what I feel right now for Marie," he said, almost sounding angry. "Because even though our relationship is down the crapper, those few precious moments of happiness we had are completely worth every ounce of heartache I'm feeling right now."

Jackie frowned thoughtfully and dismissed the curse of self-deception he'd just wished on her. After all, if her mother was right about her father hating himself, and lying to himself about why prostitutes slept with him, then believing in 'true love' was probably to be expected. The words that were really making her edgy now, however, were 'few precious moments of happiness'.

Remy sighed, closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. Jackie looked at him with her own feelings of unhappiness.

"Well, I...I only have a problem with you dating," Jackie said slowly. "I wouldn't have a problem with you being friends, you know, if Marie could be persuaded to forgive you."

"Marie might be able to do the 'just friends' thing," Remy said quietly. "But I'm not sure I could. It wouldn't even be the whole 'no dating' thing either; it would be seeing her with other men, or at least hearing about her dating other men. Even if you were okay with us dating—which I know you're not—I just don't think I could handle her being with anyone else, knowing the whole time that it could have been me if I just could've gotten a damn divorce."

Jackie didn't know what to say to that, knowing full well how much both parents wanted to get divorced.

"But that's impossible," Remy said, his voice bitter. "The only way Belle and I could possibly get a divorce is if weren't the leaders the the Guild any more."

"And that's a long way away. On the bright side, you'll probably be a grand-père by then, and you'll get to spend time with the grandkids," Jackie said, attempting to change the subject to something lighter. "Personally, I'm hoping for twins."

"Twins?" Remy repeated, opening his eyes and looking at her.

"Oui, or triplets," Jackie said. "A multiple birth means I only need to get pregnant once to have 'a heir and a spare'."

"It'll be a lot of work raising multiple newborns at once," Remy said. "To say nothing of toddlers."

Jackie shrugged. "It's not like I'll have to do it all by myself. I'll have you and Maman, and maybe their father depending on our arrangement. And I'll have anyone else who I can con or otherwise shanghai into helping me. Besides, delegating assignments and stuff is all part of being a leader."

Remy froze and Jackie looked at him curious, recognising her father's 'light bulb' look.

"You've had an idea?" she asked.

Remy didn't answer at first, and seemed reluctant to look her in the eye.

"It's nothing," he said.

"Nu-uh, I don't believe you," Jackie said. "That's not a 'it's nothing' idea look."

Remy cracked a weak smile.

"So?" Jackie prodded. "Aren't you going to tell me?"

"Do I have a choice?" Remy asked.

"Not really, no, as I do intend on nagging you until you 'fess up," Jackie said.

She gave Remy her brightest, cutest smile. There were definite benefits to having her father wrapped around her little finger.

"Okay fine but... it's just an idea," Remy said seriously. "It's not a suggestion or a request or anything, and just remember that you asked me to tell you."

"Okay," Jackie replied, now even more curious.

"If at any time, Belle and I decided to step down from Guild leadership, for whatever reason, you would take over. And once you're the leader of the Guild, there's no reason why you couldn't delegate the day to day work to someone else, like, your mère and I," Remy said, feeling a little awkward saying it. "Especially if say, you were in the FBI at the time, and couldn't take over full time even if you wanted to. I mean, your grand-pères retired early so that the Guild would be united under Belle and I when we got married. In reality, we were only nineteen, and definitely not ready to take over the Guild leadership. Especially me, as I had been away for deux years. Our pères stayed on as 'advisors' for quite a few years until they deemed us competent enough to go on by ourselves."

"So if you and Maman were to step down right now, I would take over as the leader, delegate most if not all of my new responsibilities to you deux, and you could quietly divorce?" Jackie asked.

"In theory. The Guild would be united under a Boudreaux and and LeBeau united through body instead of marriage, so I can't see why any divorce between Belle and I would give anyone a cue to try and split the Guild apart again," Remy replied, then took Jackie's hand and looked her quite seriously and sternly in the eyes. "And I repeat, Jackie, it's just an idea. I have no intention of—"

"You should run it by Maman and see what she thinks," Jackie said.

"Sunshine—"

"Do it on Monday. I'll pop by the office after work."

"It's not a request, Jackie," Remy said firmly.

Jackie grinned at him. "Neither is mine."


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

Bella Donna frowned slightly as Remy entered her office and quietly closed the door behind him. It was Monday afternoon, close to the end of the work day, she was rather looking forward to going home, preferably without any arguing with Remy.

"Remy?" she inquired, not even bothering to hide her suspicion.

"I want a divorce," Remy said.

He hadn't intended for that to be his opening line, but it just came out. It had taken him all day to work up the nerve to even have this conversation at all.

"I do too, but you know that's not possible," Bella Donna replied in dismissal.

"Why?" Remy asked grabbing one of her chairs and turning it around so he could sit down backwards.

"The Guild needs us to be married. You know that."

"Really? It needs us to be married?"

"Oui."

"What about when one of us dies? Let's say, me. I die, leaving you a widow," Remy said.

Bella Donna eyed Remy suspiciously. She had long dismissed the idea of Remy being suicidal, she wasn't wrong about that, was she?

"Would the United Guilds dissolve then?" Remy asked, oblivious to Bella Donna's thoughts. "Because if the death of one of us, ending our marriage, is enough to dissolve the Guild, then why are we bothering with all this? We're not immortal; sooner or later there's going to be an accident, or a disease, or our bodies are just going to give out from old age."

"Of course not, Remy," Bella Donna said tersely. "That's why we had Jacqueline, so we'd have someone who could take over."

"Really? I thought we had Jackie because of all the fun we were having those first few months we were married," Remy replied slyly.

"You know what I mean."

"Oui, I do," Remy said seriously. "So, what if we were to retire? With the Guild united under Jackie—who's both Assassin and Thief, Boudreaux and LeBeau—there's no need for us to still be married. We could divorce then, right?"

"I suppose," Bella Donna said slowly. "But there's no point to entertaining the idea. Jacqueline has her plan to infiltrate the FBI, a plan that is of greater merit to the Guild at this time than her taking over as the Guild leader."

"Well, once she's the Guild leader, there's nothing stopping her from delegating the day to day operations to others," Remy said. "You and I, perhaps? But I quite agree. I wouldn't ask Jackie to step up just so we could divorce."

"Then why are we even dragging the subject up?" Bella Donna demanded testily. "Dieu! It's because of Marie, isn't it? You've fallen in love with her."

A faint smile crossed Remy's lips. "Am I that obvious?"

"You quit smoking," Bella Donna said, almost sounding angry.

"Don't remind me, I've been itching for a smoke all week," Remy replied, and then frowned. "What's that got to do with Marie?"

Bella Donna stared at him like he was crazy.

"What?" Remy asked. "Wait, you think I quit smoking because of Marie?"

"Didn't you?"

"No, I..." Remy began, then frowned. "At least I don't think I did... I mean... She never asked me to. Well, she told me off once for lighting up in front of her, but that was about it."

"Uh huh."

"Oh come on Belle, Marie's hardly the first women I've dated who didn't like me smoking," Remy said. "Actually, I think _you_ were the first woman to tell me to stop smoking."

"Annoying me gave you plenty of incentive to keep smoking," Bella Donna said. "I think it would take someone pretty special to...to over-rule that."

There was silence for a long moment. Finally, Remy sighed.

"You're right, Marie is pretty special," Remy said. "And I do love her like crazy, but I... Well, we had a fight recently, and I hurt her pretty badly. I don't think she'll ever forgive me."

Bella Donna snorted contemptuously.

"A divorce would pretty much be my only chance to get back together with her, if I have a chance at all, but," Remy said firmly, "I know Jackie doesn't like us being together. Nor would I ever even consider asking Jackie to—"

Remy was interrupted by the door opening, and Jackie stepped inside.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," she said.

"Not really," Bella Donna said, gesturing to the only empty chair in the room.

"We were just discussing that idea you wanted me to talk to Belle about," Remy said as Jackie closed the door and sat down.

"Wait, this was your idea?" Bella Donna asked Jackie.

"Nah," Jackie said. "Papa's idea, and it was like pulling teeth to get him to spill. So, do you think it'll work? Oncle Julien's pretty much the biggest opponent to the United Guilds, right? Think he'd be a problem?"

"Julien's always a problem," Remy said and ignored Bella Donna's glare.

"I don't think he'd have much of a leg to stand on," Bella Donna said. "But—"

"So, the retire early and divorce idea will work then?" Jackie said. "Great, let's do it."

"Jackie," Remy said tersely. "I told you it was just an idea. I never said anything about actually doing it."

"Why not?" Jackie asked. "You both want a divorce, and I'm going to have to take over the Guild eventually anyway."

"Because right now you're primarily an observer," Bella Donna said. "Taking over leadership of the Guild—even delegating the bulk of the work to us—will mean that from then on you will have to be an active participant."

"I'm sure I speak for Belle as well when I say that we don't want a divorce at your expense, Sunshine," Remy added.

"Indeed," Bella Donna said with a nod.

"I can't believe I'm having this argument with you," Jackie said, sounding disgusted. "Look, if anything, me taking over now is probably better than putting it off. This way we can nut out now how things can work with me being away. I mean what if something was to happen to one of you while I was still with the FBI that meant you had to step down? What, we're going to work out _then_ how I'm going to lead the Guild long distance? Or am I going to be forced to resign before I'm ready?"

"You always knew your career with the FBI was not going to be permanent," Bella Donna replied stiffly.

"I get where you're coming from though," Remy said thoughtfully.

"Remy," Bella Donna scolded with a frown.

"What? I'm just saying she has a point. Which, frankly, she does. What if Jackie was in the middle of something crucial at the time?" Remy said. "It might be best to get the council used to the idea of having Jackie as a Guild leader."

"You're just siding with her because you want to get back together with Marie," Bella Donna snapped at him.

"Of course I want to get back together with Marie! I'm not going to deny that. But in case you haven't noticed, there are deux other people who have to agree to any attempts to reconcile things with Marie, one being Marie herself," Remy retorted, "and the other being Jackie. One of those two has informed me that our relationship is 'gross', and the other never wants to see me again."

"That didn't stop you before," Bella Donna replied nastily.

"Let's please keep Marie out of this," said Jackie. "If Papa says that he's not going to pursue Marie without my blessing, I believe him. And let me just say, I feel really, really weird saying that."

Remy chuckled softly.

"Marie isn't the point anyway," Jackie went on. "The point is getting you two that divorce you've always wanted, long before we even knew Marie existed. Quite frankly, I like the idea of the council getting used to me being in charge, and now is a good time to start: I can't even apply to the FBI in the first place until I have three years full time work experience, which means I'm going to be in New Orleans for the next three years. I always come here to use the workout facilities anyway, so it's not like it's going to be going out of my way. Guild ceremonies are usually at night, so it's not like my job'll interfere there."

"You'll miss meetings," Bella Donna said.

"I'm going to end up missing meetings anyway."

"There's a risk of you being labelled a puppet."

"That risk already exists if I have to take over in the middle of my FBI career and can't resign at that time."

"They'll say you're too young."

"I'm older than you were when you technically became the Guild leaders," Jackie told her mother smugly. "Didn't your parents help you?"

"Psst Belle," Remy said in an exaggerated whisper. "Here's a hint: I already told Jackie that our pères stayed on as 'advisors'."

Jackie giggled and Bella Donna sighed.

"Come on, Maman," said Jackie. "I've been having a hard time trying to decide what to get you guys for Christmas. Please let me get you a divorce? Pretty please?"

* * *

><p>It was Friday night and Marie was sitting with Ryan, Chris, Lauren and James around a table playing a game of Dungeons and Dragons. Chris was the Dungeon Master, and on the table was a grid sheet with a variety of models and oddities set out on it. Marie's fighter was being represented by a penny, and she was travelling with Ryan's wizard, Lauren's rogue and James' cleric to find the Lost Treasure of Spiny Tower. Upon their arrival, they had encountered a couple of large trolls guarding the entrance.<p>

"And...Ryan, your turn," said Chris. "Whatcha gonna do?"

Now that Marie and Remy were over, Marie could finally put an end to all the "open relationship" nonsense. That realisation had come as a huge relief, and she felt like a massive weight had been lifted with that alone. It had only been a couple of weeks, but Marie had been giving some serious thought to rekindling things with Ryan.

"I'm going to move here," Ryan said, moving his figurine with one hand and picking up the dice with the other, "and cast Magic Missiles."

Marie cared about Ryan a great deal—she never would have had sex with him if she hadn't—but there was a surprising number of reasons for her not to rekindle things. The long list of incompatibilities for one thing, at the top of which was Ryan's complete disinterest in travelling. A good third of Marie's list of things to do before she died involved visiting international locations, whereas she wouldn't be surprised if Ryan would be happy if he never left the borders of Louisiana.

Ryan's dice rattled on the table and he read out the numbers displayed.

There was also the fact that if they did get back together, she would have to tell him she was a mutant. This wasn't anything she was ashamed of—if anything, Marie still regretted not telling her college friends that she was a mutant in the beginning—more that she realised if she told Ryan she was a mutant, she would also have to tell him about Remy and the Cure. Worse was the knowledge that even then she wouldn't be able to confess everything without potentially implicating Jackie in the mess.

Chris rolled for the monster that Ryan had attacked.

Marie had no idea how a long distance relationship would work out either, and they really only had a semester left. Somehow, it just didn't seem worth the effort.

"Okay, five hit points left," said Chris. "Lauren?"

Deep down, however, Marie knew these were only excuses. She should have been open about being a mutant in the first place, powerless or not. As for their incompatibilities, well, they'd either work them out or they'd break up, but it was folly to decide in advance that the latter was inevitable. No, the truth of the matter was that she still loved Remy.

Lauren made squeaking noises with her tongue as she considered.

Marie wished so badly for an 'off' switch on her feelings for Remy. Unfortunately, she realised that she must be pretty deeply in love with the guy to ever say such a thing out loud. It wouldn't be so easy to get over him.

"They can probably see me, huh?" Lauren said.

"Yep," Chris replied.

Lauren moved the piece of gum that represented her character, and then picked up the dice.

"Ranged shot," she said, gesturing to the troll she was aiming for.

Until she'd gotten over Remy, Marie decided that it was no good trying to pursue a serious relationship with anyone else. She just end up comparing them all the time, and it really wasn't fair to anyone to date one person when she was thinking of someone else.

* * *

><p>"Please tell me this is a joke," Gris Gris said as he approached Remy and Bella Donna, Julien right behind him.<p>

With no warning to the council, Remy, Bella Donna and Jackie had announced to the Guild at large the change in leadership. The ceremony was conducted without a chance for anyone to protest, and Gris Gris was not the only council member on the war path.

"Not at all," Bella Donna said. "We discussed the matter as a family and decided that this was the best course of action for everyone involved."

"A family," Julien said contemptuously. "That's what you're calling it?"

"Look, Belle, Jackie's still young and she has other plans," Gris Gris said. "You can't tell me she's given up on them already?"

"We've already worked out the finer details, and we shall discuss—we shall _inform_ the council of how things will be working from now on at our next meeting," Bella Donna said. "Now, however, is time for celebration."

Remy and Bella Donna weren't entirely successful in evading the wrath of the council during the party that followed, but they both agreed afterwards that it could have been a lot worse.

"Soooo," said Sy, sidling up to Jackie. "You're the Guild leader now."

"You may call me Matriarch," Jackie replied with a slight smile, a drink in hand.

"Nah," said Varian. "That sounds way too motherly. So, Jackie, it's been awhile since you and I—"

"Beat it, numb nuts," Sy said, glaring at the Assassin.

"Well, I was in the process of asking Jackie if she would mind 'beating it'," Varian replied.

"Boys, boys," Jackie said, putting an arm around each of their shoulders. "You're not fighting over little ol' me are you? Because there is a perfectly reasonable solutions to this—"

"Oh no," Varian said. "You ain't tricking me into that a second time."

"Actually I was going to say I was thinking of employing a couple of, ahem, _man_servants, to follow me around and do my bidding," Jackie said and looked them both up and down. "Preferably of the half-naked, well-oiled variety. So, what do you say?"

"You're not serious?" Varian asked.

"Damn," said Sy. "I was hoping for the completely naked, well-oiled variety. Sorry, Jackie, I'm going to have to pass."

"Oh well," Jackie said with a grin and a shrug. "You have a bay-be to look after anyway. How is Emily?"

"She's got a set of lungs on her, that's for sure," Sy said with a wince.

"Heh," Varian said with a smirk. "Sucker."

"You're just mad 'cause Rita asked me first," Sy retorted.

"Nope, I'm gloating 'cause I dodged that bullet," Varian said.

"That's 'cause you ain't man enough to be a père," Sy replied. "Takes a real man to not only father a child, but to stick around and help raise her. You ain't got the balls."

"You're going to be short a couple of balls in a minute," Varian said darkly.

"Okay you deux," Jackie said. "As amusing as this conversation is, I'd prefer it if my reign didn't start with Assassins and Thieves fighting each other. We're the _United_ Guilds, after all."

* * *

><p>Jackie sat at the head of the council table, feeling bored and irritated with all the arguing going on. Jackie wasn't even sure if the council genuinely objected to her being made Guild leader, or if they were just angry because they'd been left out of the loop. Possibly both.<p>

She found the reception of their announcement to be rather interesting. Most Guild members of her generation had been quite supportive, whereas most Guild members of her parents' generation had been anything but. One exception had been—surprisingly—Julien. Jackie wasn't entirely certain if having his support was the kiss of death or not. Jackie eventually decided that Julien was more interested in supporting his sister, especially in the wave of disapproval she'd been receiving. After all, Julien had never been a supporter of the United Guilds, so why should he care who led it?

Remy and Bella Donna filed for their divorce first thing that Monday morning. Jackie called into work sick and joined them for the momentous occasion. It was a little nerve-wracking and didn't feel entirely real. Jackie noted that her mother's hands even shook while signing the papers to get the process started. As they had already been living apart for well over the required time, the solicitor informed them that all they needed was two witnesses to vouch for that fact, and their divorce could be finalised in a month. Both Jackie and Remy had been surprised when Bella Donna suggested Emil for the second witness.

"But you hate Emil," Remy had said.

"Oui, I do," Bella Donna had replied. "But, he's likely to be more supportive of Jackie's rise to power if he knows about this, and he has quite a bit of influence of his own amongst both Thieves and Assassins, even if he's not a council member. His granddaughter also presents additional incentive to make sure things work. Besides, if we ask Henri, you know he'll tell Mercy and Jean-Luc as well, and the fewer people know about this for now, the better."

They felt it was important to keep the divorce quiet. Undoubtedly there would be speculation, but they had no desire to add fuel to the fire. They wanted to give Jackie a chance to establish herself as Guild leader first.

Afterwards a celebratory lunch, they reluctantly returned to the office for the council meeting they'd been dreading.

"So now if Jackie was to get caught while she's working for the FBI," said Theoren, "they'd have our leader in their clutches."

"I really don't see how that's any more troublesome than having the heir in their clutches," Bella Donna said. "What I do see as troublesome, is if an ill-prepared council has to communicate with an ill-prepared Jacqueline while she's with the FBI, potentially blowing her cover and _getting_ her caught."

"Agreed," said Remy. "And the time to start preparing everyone is now, when we have the largest window of opportunity available to us."

"I thought we were going to keep Jackie's interactions with the Guild down," said Fifolet. "You know, so that everything would come up okay on the background check."

"If the cops suspect the recreation centre as being a front for criminal activity, Jackie won't be getting into the FBI, not with her parents listed as owners," said Bella Donna. "Coming here regularly will not change that. It's taking jobs that we're keeping down."

The problem with meetings, Jackie decided, was everyone's insistence of saying the same thing over and over again, just with different words. Eventually, tiring of it all, Jackie left her seat and sat on the edge of the conference table instead, bringing up one of her legs with her. She pulled out her nail file and start inspecting fingernails.

"Jacqueline," Bella Donna said tersely.

"You know what amuses me the most about all this?" Jackie said with regal amusement once she was sure that she had everyone's attention. "They actually seem to think they can change any of this. The council cannot prevent someone from retiring, nor have they had any control over change of leadership of the Guild. After all, is it not true that Jean-Luc and Marius arranged the marriage of their heirs, Remy and Bella Donna, without consulting their respective councils? The council were not privy to that decision. They were not called upon to give their opinions. The decision was made, and the council were then consulted in regards to making the transition."

Jackie put the nail file down and ran her eyes slowly across each member of the council.

"This meeting is not your chance to sway our decision. The decision has been made. The leadership has been transferred. As far as you and the Guild is concerned, I am now the Matriarch of the United Guilds," she said imperiously. "This meeting was supposed to be about making the transition. I say 'supposed to be', because we have just wasted the last three hours discussing a decision that cannot and will not be reversed. Now, if you'd rather gripe and complain about my ability to lead and my inexperience, rather than conversing on giving me the experience I require, and making arrangements to smooth and maintain the transition of power, I suggest you leave."

Jackie's eyes swept the room again, her demonic eyes making the moment all the more intense.

"Now," she added coldly but firmly.

There was silence in the council room as everyone regarded her, taking in her tone of voice and posture. No one moved. Finally, Remy turned and looked at Bella Donna.

"I don't care how much she looks like me," Remy said. "She is exactly like you."

"Hmm," Bella Donna said with a slight smile on her face. "You know, Remy, I do believe we've stumbled upon the real reason why they're all upset about this; they don't want to deal with another generation of us."

"Heh, another generation of us, all wrapped into one neat little package that doesn't fight with itself," Remy replied gleefully.

"Indeed. In fact, I don't think it's the Guild that should be worried," Bella Donna said. "It's the FBI that should be afraid."

"Damn straight," said Jackie. "So, are we actually going to get down to business? Or did you want to bicker like petulant children some more?"

* * *

><p>Despite the change in leadership, for Bella Donna very little seemed to change. Jackie was not in a position to take over the day to day administration, and so Bella Donna continued to do much of what she usually did. For this she wouldn't describe herself as retired.<p>

There was a knock on her office door, and at her 'come in', Julien entered.

"Bonjour," he said. "Ready to go?"

"Of course," Bella Donna said, grabbing her jacket. "Was there a particular reason you wanted to see the solicitor?"

Julien shrugged. "Just updating my Will, and I'm sure we both know how important it is to keep it up to date."

Bella Donna smiled wryly. "Indeed."

* * *

><p>"Oh, Jackie," said Lisha as Jackie entered the apartment after a long day at work, following by a long evening with the Guild. "You need to sign this."<p>

Jackie reluctantly looked towards the paper that Lisha thrust in her face.

"What's 'this'?" she asked.

"It's a petition to reverse that stupid amendment banning same-sex marriage," Lisha said, holding out a pen as well. "Sign."

Jackie laughed, and both Lisha and Phillis glared at her.

"Ahh, good one, Lisha," Jackie said. "Aside from the fact that it will never work, I wouldn't sign that even just to humour you. It goes against everything I believe in."

If looks could kill, Lisha would have reduced Jackie to a pile of ash.

"Since when are you a Christian?" Lisha demanded the same time Phillis said "Homophobic bigot!"

"I'm not," Jackie replied haughtily. "Although, for the record, Christianity isn't the only religion that doesn't approve of same sex marriage. Judaism, Islam, Hinduism... Actually, I think the better question might be which religion does approve of homosexuality."

"Don't change the subject," Lisha said, her eyes flashing with rage as she poked Jackie with the pen. "Sign!"

"I didn't change the subject. You did," Jackie replied, flicking the pen away. "If you weren't so busy jumping to conclusions, you would know that I won't sign this because I'm anti-marriage."

"You're what?"

"Don't listen to her, Lisha," said Phillis, glowering at Jackie. "She's just making excuses."

"I'm anti-marriage. It's obsolete. A waste of time, effort and resources. Useless. It should be outlawed for all couples regardless of gender," Jackie said. "Half of all marriages end in divorce, and of those that actually do end in death, how many of those deaths are the result of one murdering the other? Hmm? How many of those couples were actually happy together?"

"Hey, it's a known fact that same sex couples are way more stable than mixed sex couples," Lisha said.

Jackie laughed. "You don't honestly believe that tripe? People are people, regardless of gender. The divorce rate will continue to get bigger and bigger, regardless of whether same sex couples are allowed to marry. In fact, I'm doing you a favour by not signing this. Imagine if a petition actually worked? You might do something stupid like get married, only to divorce a year later and end up making a divorce lawyer rich for all your trouble."

* * *

><p>There was only one person who would be knocking on Edmund's door at this hour, and so it was with no surprise that he opened the door to find Jackie standing there. The thing that was different was her bags.<p>

"Ahh," he said. "The harpies finally kicked you out."

"Yeah," Jackie said, not without a smirk. "And I would have called you at a better hour, but I realised I don't have your number. So I figured I should let you know in person I'm not your neighbour any more."

"Shame," Edmund replied. "Did you have anywhere to go?"

"I figured I'd just crash at Maman's for awhile until I found another place," Jackie said.

"Alright. Did you want come in for a bit?"

"Normally I'd say yes, but I'm really not looking forward to going out again, and would rather get it over with."

Edmund shrugged. "Did you want to stay here tonight?"

"I hope you mean that offer, because I'm going to take you up on it," Jackie said.

Edmund laughed and held the door open for her. "By all means, pet, come on in."

"Also," Jackie said as she walked inside, pulling her bags with her. "You should know that I sleep naked."

"What a coincidence," Edmund replied, shutting the door after her. "So do I. And since we're on the subject, I only have one bed."

"I hope it's a double."

"Queen."

"Close enough."

Edmund chuckled. "Any particular reason you get kicked out? Or did they just get tired of you?"

Jackie collapsed onto the lounge and started pulling off her shoes. "I wouldn't sign their stupid gay marriage petition."

"I didn't think you had a problem with that sort of thing," Edmund said with a slight frown.

"Well, of course I have a problem with marriage. It's a useless, obsolete idea that should have gone out with the dark ages."

"Oh, I meant with the 'gay' part," Edmund replied.

"They made the same assumption," Jackie said disgustedly.

"Well, I feel you," said Edmund. "I have no interest in getting married either. And I don't care how much Mum tells me I shouldn't say 'never'. She's a fine one to talk; she's been divorced twice."

"Some people just don't learn, do they?" Jackie said, shaking her head.

"My Dad was on his third marriage when he died," Edmund said.

"Ouch."

"I have five half siblings. My eldest brother is divorced, and my second eldest sister just got married," Edmund went on, a twinkle in his eye. "I'm not holding out much hope for a success."

"Heh," Jackie said, grinning at him. "My parents, after being unhappily married for the last twenty-three years in an arranged marriage are finally getting that divorce they've always wanted."

"Arranged marriage?" Edmund asked. "Wow, that sucks."

"You're telling me."

"Heh." He considered her for a moment. "Say, Jackie?"

"Mmm?"

"Did you want to move in with me?"

Jackie looked up at him in surprise. "You?"

Edmund shrugged. "You need to find a new place anyway, and it's not like I couldn't use the rent money. Besides, you're probably the only woman I could ever ask to move in with me without getting the wrong idea."

Jackie laughed.

"Alright," she said. "We'll see how it goes."

* * *

><p>A couple of mornings later, Jackie felt someone move next to her in the bed. In her sleepy haze, she turned her head and her eyes opened briefly. It was just enough time for Jackie to see Edmund, smile vaguely and close her eyes again. It was also enough time for Edmund to see her real red-on-black eyes, give a cry of alarm, and fall off the side of the bed. The thump of Edmund none-too-gracefully hitting the floor was enough to wake Jackie.<p>

"What?" she asked, opening her eyes again.

"Uhh Jackie, umm..." Edmund stammered awkwardly. "There seems... Is there... I..."

"What?" Jackie asked, frowning at him.

"Eyes..."

It took a moment for this to register, and then Jackie swore and abruptly changed her eye colour. It was far too early in the morning for this.

"Better?" she asked irritably.

Edmund slowly rose to his feet. "You're a mutant, aren't you?"

"Whatever gave it away?" Jackie asked sarcastically.

She rolled over, turning her back on him and shutting her eyes once more. There was silence for a long moment, then Edmund climbed back on the bed.

"Sorry," he said tentatively. "I didn't mean to... It just came as a bit of a surprise."

"Whatever."

"May I see?" he asked.

"Why?" Jackie asked. "So you can point and laugh, and call me the Spawn of Satan?"

"That could actually explain a few things," Edmund replied with much more good nature than he would have expected after having such a scare that early in the morning. "You are a bit of a trouble maker and you're also pretty wicked in bed."

Jackie chuckled lightly, and turned her head back. She opened her eyes, and slowly released what she still thought of as the 'illusion' she had created around her eyes. Edmund caught his breath, but looked at her steadily.

"They've very unusual," he said finally. "They suit you perfectly."

Jackie grinned at him, and he kissed her lightly.

"They're going to take some getting used to though," Edmund said. "A _lot_ of getting used to. But I'll do it."

"Good," Jackie replied. "It gets exhausting keeping the illusion up for hours on end."

"Is that your power? Illusions?" Edmund asked, lying down beside her.

"I always thought it was, but I was recently informed that I'm a micro-kinetic," Jackie replied. "Which is telekinesis on the microscopic scale. Whatever. I can only do small illusions anyway. If you wouldn't mind keeping this to yourself?"

Edmund shrugged. "Aye, I can do that. But why do you want to hide? There's no shame in being a mutant."

"I'm not ashamed of being a mutant," Jackie replied firmly. "But regardless of what they say, people do judge by appearances, and I look like the devil. If I was a movie actress, I'd be typecast as the villain."

"But you'd be a hot villain," Edmund said. "I could see you in a black leather cat suit."

Jackie laughed.

* * *

><p>Remy didn't realise how dearly he would miss Marie's presence at Christmas until he was seated at the dining table at the LeBeau Mansion with his family. Jean-Luc and Carole, Henri and Mercy, Louis and Adele. Well, at least he had Jackie.<p>

"Marie's not with us this year?" Carole asked at one point early on.

"We split," Remy said, keeping his eyes on his plate.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Carole.

Remy was about to reply he didn't want to talk about it, when Jackie piped up:

"Oh, I wanted to tell you—well, actually, Marie wanted to tell you, but she never saw you," she said with a grin. "Last year you recommended those Anne McCaffrey books? Yeah, she really liked them."

"That's good to know," Carole said a grin forming on her face. "Now I really am sorry she isn't here. It would have been nice to discuss Anne McCaffrey's books with a fellow fan."

"Excellent," said Jean-Luc gruffly. "We've been spared having to sit on a book club meeting. Good to know."

"I'd really rather not talk about Marie right now," Remy said tersely.

"Bad break up, hein?" Henri asked. "She was a little too young for you anyway."

"Wait," said Adele, frowning slightly. "Is this the Marie I met at Thanksgiving?"

"Yeah, she and Papa were dating," said Jackie. "You didn't know?"

"No," Adele said, turning to look at Louis, who put on his most innocent expression. "He just told me that she was your friend."

"Well, 'Jackie's friend' was easier to say than 'Oncle Remy's girlfriend'," said Louis.

Remy refilled his wine glass.

"Why?" asked Jean-Luc. "Because it has less syllables?"

"Uhh, oui?" Louis replied awkwardly.

"Hmph. Kids these days," Jean-Luc said contemptuously, then turned to Jackie. "I'd better not hear about you being lazy and slacking off, young lady."

"Wouldn't dream of it, Grand-père," Jackie replied. "In fact, I'm expecting to be utterly swamped for the next trois years."

"Glad to hear it."

"Back to Remy for a second," Henri said, looking back at his brother. "Who else are you seeing?"

Remy's only response was to sip his wine, so when Adele leaned over to Louis to inquire what Henri meant by that, everyone heard her.

"Papa always has two or three mistresses on the books at once," Jackie said.

The stunned expression on Adele's face depicted exactly what she thought about that.

"Remy?" Henri pressed.

"You're kidding," Mercy said, realisation dawning as she stared at Remy who was intent on eating his dinner. "You were only seeing Marie? _Just_ Marie?"

"Come now," said Carole. "Remy has asked us not to discuss Marie, so let's respect his request and drop the subject."

She reached across the table and took his hand just long enough to give him a sympathetic squeeze. Remy looked down at his hand, then stood and walked off.

"Huh," Jean-Luc said thoughtfully, looking out at the door that Remy had departed through.

"Dating one femme," Henri said, shaking his head incredulously. "Not visiting the brothel any more. If I didn't know better, I'd say he'd fallen in love."

"He'll get over it," said Jackie. "That 'in love' crap is all just a hormone overload anyway."

"Says you," said Louis.

"Yeah, says me," Jackie replied.

"Do you know why they broke up?" Mercy asked Jackie before an argument could start.

Jackie hesitated. "Not my place to say."

Mercy nodded. "Any chance of them getting back together?"

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Jackie replied coolly. "My père dating my friend? That's just creepy and gross, and I'm so glad it's over."

"I can understand that," said Mercy. "I'm sure I'd feel the same way in your position. It's just... I've never seen Remy so badly heart-broken before. Not since Bella Donna anyway."

"You sure that's what we're seeing?" Henri asked dubiously.

"As you suggested," Mercy replied, "I think Remy fell in love. Really, it's the only logical explanation."

"Logical explanation my ass," Jackie said contemptuously.

"Language, young lady," Jean-Luc said.

"Désolé, Grand-père."

* * *

><p>Jackie was more than a little puzzled when she arrived at the address that Marie had given her. She thought that Marie wanted to meet up, but she found herself standing outside of a soup kitchen.<p>

"Oh good, you're here," Marie said, leaning out the door. "Come on in."

Confused and a little reluctant, Jackie followed Marie inside.

"So, why are we here?" Jackie asked. "Because if you're looking to scab a free meal I can get plenty of better quality ones back home."

"Of course not silly," Marie said, leaning Jackie out the back. "We're here to help serve."

Jackie snickered. "You're joking, right."

"Nu-uh," Marie replied smugly, grabbing a couple of aprons.

"I'm not going to help you feed a bunch of perfectly capable people who are too slack and lacking in initiative to feed themselves." Jackie said firmly.

"Come on Jackie, didn't you see those kids in there?"

"Nope."

"Liar, you're far more observant than that," Marie replied. "Your papa used to be homeless. You think he wouldn't have helped himself to a soup kitchen now and then?"

Jackie sniffed, clearly unimpressed.

"Have a little compassion for once, and help these people out," Marie said. "Do you have any idea how high the mortality rate is for the homeless?"

A smirk appeared on Jackie's face.

"Oui," she said and then leaned towards Marie and added discreetly into her ear. "Assassins have to practice on someone."

Marie shoved one of the aprons into Jackie with a cold glare.

"You are going to help feed these people," Marie informed her in a tone that brooked no argument. "You don't have to like it."

* * *

><p>Remy walked into Lady Helena's dungeon and shut the door behind him. Lady Helena, clad in her black leather bodice and pants.<p>

"Look, I know I paid for a session today, but I really only wanted to talk to you," said Remy.

Lady Helena leaned back on the bed post and raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at him.

"Proceed," she said magnanimously.

"My wife and I got divorced," he said. "It was finalised just yesterday."

"Remy," she said, her stern expression softening. "That's wonderful news. Congratulations."

"Merci," Remy replied, smiling. "So, uhh, I won't be seeing you any more."

"You should give Anna my number," Lady Helena said, and Remy recognised the name he'd used for Marie. "I'll give her some tips."

"Heh, I'm not sure she'd be interested," Remy replied, not wanting to mention that they'd broken up. "Anyway, there is another reason why I'm here aside from letting you know that I won't be seeing you any more. Umm..."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box, which he silently held out to the dominatrix. Lady Helena threw him a curious look before taking the box. She frowned slightly, finding a set of car keys inside.

"Remy?" she queried.

"Normally I try and figure out what car my mistresses like before I buy them one," Remy said. "With you I had to guess, but it's sitting in the parking lot right now."

She stared up at him in obvious shock.

"Paperwork's in the glove box, and there's some cash that should cover the cost of registration and everything, with change," he went on.

"You didn't have to—"

"Hey, I've been seeing you for well over ten years, chère," Remy said with a slight smirk. "All my other mistresses would have gotten one after trois."

"We were never dating, Remy."

"I always got the prostitutes I slept with things occasionally. Maybe not anniversary presents but..." Remy shrugged. "The point is, I never gave you anything, and you probably deserve it the most."

"I deserve a car for tanning your hide, huh?" she said, sounding amused.

"Absolument," Remy said. "Anyway, I shall take my leave—"

"You sure you don't want a session?" Lady Helena asked, giving her thigh a smack with her riding crop for good measure. "One last time."

"Nah," Remy replied, giving her a wink. "I need to sit down tomorrow. Au revoir, ma chère."

"Farewell, Remy."


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

It was rather late when Remy returned home from his forty-third birthday party; just dinner with a small group of friends and family. He parked in the garage and headed inside his house. He reached around for the light switch and flicked it, but nothing happened. He tried it a couple more times, to no avail, and concluded a fuse must have blown. He sighed in irritation and turned back to re-enter the garage.

His hand only just began to pull down the door handle when something went whizzing right by his ear and collided with the wall. Remy had barely a moment to comprehend this and duck in time to avoid the second object to go whizzing through the air at him.

For a moment there was silence and then:

"I missed you, didn't I?" came the lazy drawl of Julien Boudreaux.

Remy felt like his eyes were going to bulge out. Julien? Sure, it was a well known fact that Julien hated him and had been out to get him pretty much from the day they met, but the man hadn't actually tried to kill him even once since he and Bella Donna had married. So, why now?

"I should be embarrassed," Julien went on, took a moment to take in Remy's further silence, and then added: "I know you're there, LeBeau. Probably hiding behind the lounge between me and the garage door like the coward you are."

Remy pursed his lips. Somehow, Julien had been in his house before. What's more, Julien did have rather sharp ears and would know if Remy moved. (Trying to sneak past Julien was something the younger, more foolish apprentices dared to do on occasion, and more than once Bella Donna needed to reprimand him for his knife-throwing). Perhaps if Remy could get Julien talking, he could give himself a chance to move to a more advantageous position.

"What's wrong, Julien? Tired of life?" Remy asked. "We both know that if they discover I've been murdered, you'll be the first they'll blame. Your execution will be inevitable."

Julien laughed, and Remy took advantage to start moving as quietly and carefully as he could away from his known position. He froze when the laughter stopped, and started again when Julien began talking.

"I'm counting on it," Julien said, his smirk evident in his voice. "By the time this is over, you will be dead, I will be dead, that little brat kid of yours will be dead and the United Guilds will be no more."

There were so many things Remy wanted to say to that, but he forced himself to keep silent.

"I don't mind dying if it means Belle will finally be free of the LeBeau curse," Julien went on, paused a moment and continued: "I know what you're doing, Remy."

Remy didn't reply. He was now between the lounge and the doorway leading to the kitchen. If he was right about Julien being in the lounge chair, then there was nothing between them. Julien had clearly disabled the lights to put Remy at a disadvantage—the dark couldn't hinder a blind man—but Julien would lose that advantage when Remy charged something.

As quietly as he could, Remy pulled out a card from his deck, wincing at even the tiniest noise. He held the card away from himself and charged it up. His eyes adjusted instantly to the change in light, and he got then briefest glimpse of Julien when something whizzed towards his hand, knocked his card out of his grip, and both card and knife—Remy assumed it was a throwing knife—exploded behind him.

Julien cackled and Remy scooted away to another position, not planning on becoming a pin cushion today. Had Julien somehow known how to find Remy's cards? Or was it just a lucky throw?

Remy heard Julien stand up, and footsteps as he walked forward.

"Come on, Remy," said Julien. "Come on and face me like a man for the first time in your life. I have been looking forward to this moment for years. The ultimate death match, one of us will not walk away from here alive, and to the victor goes the execution."

While Julien crowed, Remy pulled out another card and charged it. This one was also taken out, and Julien laughed again.

"You think I haven't figured out how to find your charged cards?" Julien asked. "I trained your daughter!"

Now back behind the lounge, Remy pulled out five cards.

"That's interesting, homme," Remy said. "Let's see you try trois at once."

He took hold of the particles on four of the five cards and sent them flying up above the lounge. Only then did he stir up the particles, making them spin and run in all different directions as fast as they could. The four cards flew towards Julien, and each one was taken out by a knife.

"Ha!" Julien gloated. "You think I wouldn't figure out there was a fourth card?"

"How many of them knives do you have?" Remy asked.

"How many cards in a deck?"

Remy swore mentally, but consoled himself with the idea that he wasn't limited to cards, whereas Julien would only be able to carry so many throwing knives on him. Julien was trying to force hand to hand combat—an area in which he excelled—and Remy wasn't looking forward to taking on of the Assassins' best trainers.

Remy took hold of the particles making up the fifth card and guided it up into the air. There was no reaction from Julien, and Remy hoped—but couldn't confirm—that Julien hadn't sensed it.

"Why now, Julien?" Remy asked as he lifted himself up to see over the lounge and sent his card casually floating around the room. The light it gave off was so dim that he had to send it up very close to something before he could see it. "What took you so long, hmm? Was someone too busy having a sulk about losing his eyes?"

"Like you're one to talk," Julien sneered, and Remy felt more footsteps as Julien approached him.

Remy pulled out some more cards, and as before, unleashed all but one of the cards at Julien. Julien took out each card, but Remy now had two dimly lit cards floating around the room.

"Well?" Remy asked, making sure to keep his distance, and his cards by Julien's throwing arm. "You said you'd been waiting for this for years. Why is now the right time to strike?"

"I'm so glad you asked," Julien replied, his voice diabolically wicked. "You and Belle retired."

It took Remy a moment to put the pieces together, and when he did, he could have kicked himself for not figuring it out earlier.

"Because Jackie's the one who'll have to order your execution, not Bella Donna," Remy said.

"'Don't make me have to execute you, Julien', she always said to me. So, I'm not," Julien said, sounding quite smug. "And the best part is, if by some miracle you actually kill me, Jackie will have to order the execution of her own father."

Julien's laughter made Remy feel sick to the stomach. And that wasn't even counting Remy's discomfort at seeing Julien make his way through Remy's living room with a little too much confidence for a blind man in what should have been a strange place.

"Jackie won't execute me or any other Guild member for defending themselves," Remy said, pulling out more cards.

"First you have to _prove_ that you were defending yourself," Julien said smugly.

Remy threw the cards, moving them with his mind to the desired spot first and then charging them up.

"And as far as certain friends of mine know," Julien said, unerringly throwing knives through each of the cards, causing significant damage to the room and furniture, "_you_ invited _me_."

Remy let loose another couple of cards and then dodged hard to the side, escaping the flurry of throwing knives. He mentally swore. Although he knew his house was under surveillance, complete with sound recording, Julien had obviously been to his house before. Remy had to assume that his cameras had been compromised, and if that was so, it would likely come to a "his word against theirs" scenario. He did not want to put Jackie in that position at all, and the only way he could think of to avoid that was by trying to disable Julien without killing him.

Remy kept the cards coming. By creating debris he could render Julien's knowledge of the layout of the room all but completely useless, and increase the chances of Julien tripping up. Of course, Remy was disadvantaged in a similar manner, and had to keep one of his light granting cards by his feet.

Julien quickly figured out what Remy was up to, and after a stumble, launched himself towards Remy. Remy just dodged the full force of the attack in time, although Julien's dagger (which appeared in his hand mid-lunge) slit the sleeve of his trench coat. Remy lost his hold on his two light granting cards and kicked out at Julien. Julien was undeterred and came at Remy again, just as Remy pulled out his staff and extended it.

Remy charged up his staff and used that to see, the light from it much brighter than the low light he'd been forced to apply to his cards. His staff clashed with Julien's dagger, but Remy was forced to duck when Julien came at him with a knife in his other hand.

While Julien concentrated on trying to stab Remy, Remy focused on trying to disarm Julien. They fell and tripped over broken and fallen furniture in the process. Julien seemed to realise that Remy wasn't fighting to kill, and began to taunt him.

"Typical cowardly thief, going on the defensive," Julien sneered at him. "You're not worthy of ma sœur. You were never worthy of her."

Remy's only reply was a grunt. He rather suspected that Julien didn't think anyone was worthy of Bella Donna.

"You're nothing but a gutless, worthless piece of street trash."

Remy ignored him, trying to focus more on blocking Julien's attacks. Then, despite his advantage of light, Remy stumbled backwards over a piece of debris and fell into the lounge chair, which had felt enough of exploding cards to collapse beneath him. Too late, Remy realised why Julien was able to keep his footing so well on questionable ground: Julien knew Remy could see if he charged something, so all Julien had to do was step where Remy stepped.

There was no way that Julien could have missed Remy's fall, and Remy also realised that the charged staff told Julien more or less exactly where he was (how Remy had no idea, but then he hadn't been blind for over twenty years and forced to rely on his other senses). Through the magenta glow, Remy could see Julien coming down on him with his dagger. Remy threw his staff at Julien and let it explode.

Staff chunks went everywhere, but fortunately none hit Remy. Judging from Julien's grunt, he wasn't so lucky. Remy didn't charge anything; he wouldn't give Julien any further advantage by charging anything. He pulled himself out of the rubble that was his chair and moved away, trying to quiet his breathing after the exertion of the fight. He listened, knowing he was effectively just as blind as Julien right now. He could hear him, not far off, breathing hard (probably about as hard as he was himself).

"You signed her death warrant, you know," Julien said.

Remy didn't reply. He figured Julien would continue talking anyway, and he saw no reason to give him any kind of advantage by engaging him in conversation. Besides, he was busy contemplating how he was going to disable Julien without using a weapon. Julien knew how to fight against staves and knifes, and unarmed opponents. If he was going to win this, he needed to surprise him.

"You don't really think Silvia's drug overdose was an accident, did you?" Julien taunted.

Remy froze, his mind putting the pieces together even as Julien continued to speak:

"She used to let me in, you know, first thing in the morning, while you were still in bed," Julien said smugly. "Of course, she outlived her usefulness once you broke up with her so—"

"You son of a bitch!"

Remy was already mid air, launching himself towards Julien's voice when he realised his mistake. He couldn't stop his momentum, but he could lean to the side. It was just enough to evade Julien's knife. His landing was off, but he managed to keep his feet.

Unfortunately, Julien was still able to turn Remy's moment of anger to his advantage. There was a flurry of movement, and Remy found himself caught with his back to Julien's front, his legs trapped and his arms pulled back. Julien held a knife to Remy's throat; it was smaller, and Remy took it for one of Julien's throwing knives, rather than his dagger. Remy knew if he moved Julien wouldn't hesitate to slice his throat open. Gambling that Julien wanted to get in one final taunt before he made the final blow, Remy grabbed at the air particles next to his throat.

"When Jackie orders my execution, she's going to sign her own death warrant too," Julien said nastily into his ear.

Remy had never really thought about exactly how it was he was able to shield his throat and lungs from cigarette smoke, but now that he was, he realised how he was doing it: he was taking air particles and making them move in unison, making them flow tightly together like waves at the beach.

"I left a little parting gift in my Will; a letter that'll be sent to the FBI telling them all about the new Leader of the United Guilds, and all the lovely jobs she's pulled over the years."

Of course, a knife wasn't gas or liquid; it was a solid object. Remy packed as many air particles as he could grab, as tightly together as he could and hoped it would be enough when the inevitable blow came.

"With any luck, they won't even try to arrest her, they'll just shoot on sight, and that'll be the end of Jacqueline Armelle Boudreaux-LeBeau, the biggest embarrassment of the Boudreaux clan. Au revoir, LeBeau."

Julien pulled his knife across Remy's neck and released his victim as he fell forward. Julien chuckled with satisfaction, then ran his fingers lightly over the blade of his knife. The first thing he noticed was that the blade was dry; he couldn't feel the sticky, warm blood he'd expected. What he did feel was the knife abruptly begin to tingle, the smell and sound of an object being charged to explode. He had no time to question how Remy could do such a thing without touching it (Remy couldn't do time delayed charges, could he?), and no time to throw it away before it exploded, and exploded big in his hands.

Remy lay on the floor panting and holding his neck, feeling the skin to make sure it was actually still intact. When he took hold of the air particles, he was also able to connect with the particles in Julien's knife, just by virtue of the fact that part of the grip had been touching his skin. Remy had been able to hold the particles in Julien's knife, but he didn't move them, not until he was on the floor, and then and only then did Remy send the particles running in all directions as fast as he could. It was harder doing it at distance, rather than keeping hold of it, but judging from Julien's cry of pain it was sufficient.

Slowly, Remy reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He dialled Bella Donna's number.

"What the hell, Remy," was Bella Donna's less than pleased answering of the phone. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Sure I do," Remy replied, his voice coming out a little breathless and shaky. "It's 'get the doctor and bring him to Remy's place so that he can attend Julien' time."

There was a pause and then: "Merde. Be right there."

Bella Donna hung up, and Remy dialled Jackie's number. While he figured that Julien would have heard him and realised he was still alive, he didn't realise the rage this knowledge had put him in. He had no idea that although the explosion should have been enough to take out Julien's hands permanently, that he was still capable of picking up a knife.

"You forget something, Papa?" Jackie asked.

"I think you should come over to my place," Remy said. "Your oncle just tried to kill me. I already called Bella—urk!"

* * *

><p>Bella Donna pulled up at Remy's house next to Jackie's car in the driveway, and she and the doctor got out. The front door was ajar and there was no light coming from inside. Bella Donna pulled out her torch as she approached, but just as she stepped into the doorway, the lights came on.<p>

The living room was completely trashed. Not a single piece of furniture was still whole. There were holes, scorch marks and a couple of throwing knives in the walls. The widescreen television was cracked in multiple places and leaking. The stereo system had a big gaping chunk blown out of it. There were pieces of broken furniture and ornamental pieces everywhere, as well as what looked like the pieces of throwing blades. Julien's favourite dagger was embedded in the three-seater lounge.

Julien was lying on the coffee table, which now had two legs instead of four. His clothes were cut and scorched, particularly his sleeves. The fingers and thumb from his left hand were missing. His right hand was gone. His head was bleeding.

Remy was laying face first on the three-seater lounge. His clothes had more holes than Julien's, but less scorch marks. His back was bloody and one of Julien's throwing knives was sticking out.

Bella Donna had barely a chance to comprehend this when the doctor was shoved past her, phone to his ear already asking for backup and checking the two men. The door leading to the garage opened and Jackie stepped through, having just repaired the sabotaged fuse box. Her eyes widened at the sight.

"Papa!" she exclaimed in horror.

She started to rush to Remy's side, but Bella Donna caught her.

"Let the doctor do his work," Bella Donna said, her voice tight. "He'll let us know if he needs our assistance."

"What happened?" Jackie asked. "Do you know what happened?"

Bella Donna shook her head, not taking her eyes off Julien. "I got a call from Remy to come here and bring the doctor with me to look at Julien."

"Then he called me and said he'd just called you," Jackie said. "He got cut off in the middle of talking to me. I guess that was when he got...he got stabbed."

Jackie swallowed hard.

"And then I got here," Jackie went on, "and the lights wouldn't come on, so I figured, hey, if I was Oncle Julien and planning on ambushing someone, the first thing I would do is kill the lights, so I checked the fuse box and fixed it. Although how on earth Oncle Julien knew which fuse to cut I have no idea. Even if Papa had ever had him over, he'd never show him something like that."

"Remy's not the only one who's very resourceful," Bella Donna said. "You should call Henri."

* * *

><p>The Guild private hospital was a carry over from the Assassins Guild. Although Henri preferred not to think about <em>all<em> the ways the Assassins found it useful to have their own hospital, the main benefit was that the staff (the ones who weren't already Guild members), were paid not to report certain cases to the police.

"How is he?" Henri asked as he approached Jackie's figure sitting on a chair by the wall.

"He's in surgery," Jackie replied, not looking at him. "That's all I know."

Henri nodded and sat down beside her.

"And, uhh, Julien?" he asked tentatively.

"He's lost his hands, concussion and a broken nose," Jackie said. "Maman's with him now."

"Lost his hands?"

"I'm guessing Papa blew them up somehow."

Henri nodded and there was silence for a moment.

"Why didn't Papa just kill him?" Jackie asked abruptly. "Seriously, Oncle Julien was obviously out to get him. Papa clearly had the opportunity if he was able to call Maman and I before he got stabbed in the back. Why? Does Papa hate killing that much?"

"I'm sure Remy had his reasons for not killing Julien when he had the chance," Henri replied patiently. "Your papa has killed before, but only ever when he has to."

"What's so wrong about killing?" Jackie demanded, glaring at Henri. "What is it about killing that you Thieves hate so much?"

Henri paused, trying to decide how best to explain it to someone who was raised to think that killing was okay. The solution came to him almost immediately.

"Jackie," he said softly. "What if Julien had succeeded in killing Remy tonight?"

"He might have. He's still in surgery, remember?" Jackie said bitterly.

"Exactly. You love your papa, oui? He's important to you, and you think he deserves to live, and to die when it is his time, and not when someone else decides it's his time," Henri said. "When you kill someone, you don't just kill the person who physically dies, you also hurt their family, their friends, and a little piece of yourself."

Jackie made a rude noise at that last part. Henri nodded.

"You wouldn't see it, of course, but I do," Henri said. "Taking that first life changes different people in different ways. Sometimes even just feeling like you're responsible for a death is enough to do it."

Jackie frowned. "Like Papa and Etienne?"

"You know about that?" Henri asked.

"Maman told me."

"Ahh. Mais, oui, Remy took Etienne's death very hard. He wasn't the same after that," Henri said and looked at his niece seriously. "You watch, Jackie. You pay attention in these years ahead of you. Assassins play it off like there's nothing serious about taking a life, but trust me, it's very serious and it will change you, for better or worse. You watch your Assassin apprentices before and after their first kill, and Masters after many kills. One day you'll know exactly what I mean."

* * *

><p>"How's he doing?"<p>

Bella Donna looked up from Julien's bedside to see one of her oldest friends, Gris Gris just inside the doorway.

"He's sleeping," Bella Donna replied. "They think he'll be okay."

Gris Gris nodded as he walked over. "Good to know. I, uhh, assume we don't know what happened yet?"

Bella Donna just shook her head. This was not something she wanted to talk about. Despite her failed marriage, she loved Remy as much as she loved Julien, and having the two men in hospital after trying to kill each other was her worst nightmare come to life.

Gris Gris put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I know it's soon, but would you like me to take care of the investigation?" he asked.

"It's Jackie you should be asking, not me," Bella Donna replied, her eyes firmly set on Julien.

"Belle—"

"She's the Guild Leader now, Gris Gris. I don't care if you approve, it is what it is," she interrupted shortly.

Gris Gris stifled a sigh and gave Bella Donna's shoulder a gentle squeeze before leaving the room. He didn't think Jackie was ready or even the right person for this investigation—she was too close and too new to the job. Still, he didn't care to argue with Bella Dona right now.

He spotted Jackie sitting on the seat by the wall, as she had been when he came in, and stood before her. Slowly, Jackie lifted her head.

"Would you like me to take care of the investigation?" Gris Gris asked her.

"What's there to investigate?" Jackie asked blandly. "Oncle Julien tried to kill mon père. He may have succeeded. Papa's in recovery. They don't know if he'll make it."

"It's not that clear cut, petite," Gris Gris said. "Julien told myself, Questa and Fifolet that Remy invited him over."

"That's stupid," Jackie said. "Why would Papa do something like that?"

Gris Gris didn't answer. Jackie narrowed her eyes at him.

"Papa wouldn't plot to kill someone," she said. "And even if he would, he wouldn't be that obvious about it."

"Oh really?" asked Gris Gris. "Let's put something in perspective, shall we? _No one_ would expect Remy to try and kill Julien. Do you still think this scenario is out of the question?"

"Oui," Jackie replied tersely. "But I take your point. Fine, we shall investigate together."

"Jackie," Gris Gris said, "you are a little, ahem, close to the people involved, and I know you're not exactly Julien's biggest fan."

"Oh? You're suggesting _my_ investigation might be a bit biased?" Jackie demanded, standing up. "What about _your_ investigation? You're Oncle Julien's best friend."

"I'm friends with Remy too," Gris Gris said.

"Uh huh, so if you had to choose between them, who would you pick?"

"Fine," Gris Gris said irritably. "We'll investigate together."

"And Theoren," Jackie said. "He hates Papa and Oncle Julien, so that makes him the closest thing to a neutral party we have."

Gris Gris looked at her for a moment, then chuckled lightly.

"Good plan," he said.

"Okay, umm...what's the time?" Jackie said, then checked the clock on her phone. "I'll call Theoren in an hour or so, and we can meet at Papa's place at about eleven, is that okay with you?"

"Oui, that'll be fine."

* * *

><p>At two minutes after eleven that morning, Jackie unlocked Remy's front door and pushed it open. Gris Gris and Theoren stepped inside and Theoren gave a low whistle at the sight of the mess.<p>

"Must be been one hell of a fight," said Gris Gris as he looked at what was left of the living room. "Kind of wished I'd seen it."

"We can," Jackie replied. "Papa set up his own security surveillance."

"He did?" Gris Gris asked.

"Makes sense," Theoren said. "I'd expect it of him."

"Yeah, well, you guys don't get to see the vault," said Jackie as she walked purposely towards the kitchen. "_I_ go in the vault, I get last nights footage. When I get the footage, we can watch it on my laptop. You guys can stay out here and do... whatever you feel like doing as part of your investigation."

Theoren and Gris Gris agreed (Gris Gris reluctantly), and Jackie headed to the vault. Her hands were shaking as she went through the door to the vault and accessed the computer. She did not want to be here, doing this. She wanted to be with her papa.

Jackie found the footage she was after for the living room, the garage and the front of the house. She copied the files to her computer, then headed back out. By this time, Theoren and Gris Gris had gotten rather bored, and were chatting in the kitchen. Jackie didn't say a word to them, she only set up her laptop, grabbed a chair and put it between them to sit down on.

"Okay," Jackie said, tapping away at the computer. "This is the front of the house from last night."

She put the footage on fast forward, slowing it down to normal speed when something of interest happened. They noted Remy's time of departure for his party, Julien's arrival in a taxi, and then Remy's return later on. Jackie switched to the living room footage, starting at Julien's arrival. They watched as Julien walked unerringly to the garage door, and then Jackie switched to the garage camera to see what he did there. All watched with concern as Julien located the fuse box and cut the one fuse he needed to in order to kill the lights in the house.

"None of those fuses are labelled with Braille are they?" Theoren asked.

"Nope," Jackie replied.

"I think it's safe to say that Julien's been here before," Theoren said seriously.

Gris Gris nodded gravely. "I don't recall him mentioning any invitations prior to now, either."

"That's because Papa has better taste in his company," Jackie said evenly, and switch the footage back to the living room.

They watched as Julien made himself at home in the lounge chair, and then Jackie fast forwarded until the time Remy would have returned home.

"Colour is pretty good," said Theoren, watching while Remy entered the living room and flicked the switch, knowing that Remy should be in the dark.

"Cameras were apparently state of the art when Papa stole 'em," Jackie replied.

"I do like cameras that can see in the dark," Theoren said, then watched as Julien threw two throwing knives at Remy, each one missing.

_"I missed you, didn't I?"_

Jackie resisted the urge to smirk and say 'See? I told you Papa wouldn't plot to kill anyone'.

_"I should be embarrassed," Julien said as he pulled out another couple of throwing knives._

More silence.

_"I know you're there, LeBeau. Probably hiding behind the lounge between me and the garage door like the coward you are."_

_"What's wrong, Julien? Tired of life?" Remy asked. "We both know that if they discover I've been murdered, you'll be the first they'll blame. Your execution will be inevitable."_

The three looked at each other as Julien laughed and Remy started crawling all so quietly behind the furniture.

_"I'm counting on it. By the time this is over, you will be dead, I will be dead, that little brat kid of yours will be dead and the United Guilds will be no more. I don't mind dying if it means Belle will finally be free of the LeBeau curse."_

"What does he mean by that?" Theoren asked, frowning.

They saw Remy pull out a playing card from the gap between the three seater lounge and the doorway to the dining room. No sooner than he charged it, but Julien threw one of his throwing knives at the cards. He pulled out a replacement knife as he stood up.

_"Come on, Remy," said Julien. "Come on and face me like a man for the first time in your life. I have been looking forward to this moment for years. The ultimate death match, one of us will not walk away from here alive, and to the victor goes the execution."_

They watched as Remy charged up a second card and Julien threw another knife at it. Jackie felt sick watching it.

_"You think I haven't figured out how to find your charged cards?" Julien asked. "I trained your daughter!"_

Remy scooted back behind the lounge and pulled out five more cards.

_"That's interesting, homme," Remy said. "Let's see you try trois at once."_

They watched as four of the five cards floated up above the lounge and fly towards Julien. Quick as lighting, Julien threw his knives and pulled out replacements, taking out the four of them.

_"Ha!" Julien gloated. "You think I wouldn't figure out there was a fourth card?"_

_"How many of them knives do you have?" Remy asked._

_"How many cards in a deck?"_

"We did find _a lot_ of throwing knives on him," Jackie said.

"Well, that's not really unusual," Gris Gris replied wryly.

"What's he doing there?" Theoren asked, pointing to the fifth card, which was now floating around the room, aimlessly it seemed.

"Light," Jackie said. "He's using it to see. Remember, even though we can see what's happening because of the cameras, Papa can't."

_"Why now, Julien?" Remy asked as he lifted himself up to see over the lounge. "What took you so long, hmm? Was someone too busy having a sulk about losing his eyes?"_

_"Like you're one to talk," Julien sneered, walking towards him._

Remy pulled out some more cards, and as before, unleashed all but one of the cards at Julien, which he sent floating around the room as a second light source. Julien's knives took out the others.

_"Well?" Remy asked, backing away from Julien. "You said you'd been waiting for this for years. Why is now the right time to strike?"_

_"I'm so glad you asked," Julien replied, his voice diabolically wicked. "You and Belle retired."_

_"Because Jackie's the one who'll have to order your execution, not Bella Donna," Remy said._

_"'Don't make me have to execute you, Julien', she always said to me. So, I'm not," Julien said, sounding quite smug. "And the best part is, if by some miracle you actually kill me, Jackie will have to order the execution of her own father."_

"Merde," Gris Gris muttered.

_"Jackie won't execute me or any other Guild member for defending themselves," Remy said._

_"First you have to prove that you were defending yourself," Julien said smugly. _

They watched as Remy charged up additional cards, but lightly like the two that were floating around. It was only when the cards moved well away from Remy's body that they flared up in magenta glow.

_"And as far as certain friends of mine know," Julien said, unerringly throwing knives through each of the cards, causing significant damage to the room and furniture, "_you_ invited _me_."_

"Hmm," Jackie said blandly. "I wonder which friends he was talking about."

"It was well played," said Theoren before Gris Gris could say anything. "He got us asking questions, and if it wasn't for this footage, we may have been stalemated."

They watched and listened as the fight continued, and Remy's lounge room quickly became a mess.

"Thinks he's going to get one through?" Theoren asked.

"No," said Gris Gris. "He's deliberately wrecking his own room. He's trying to get Julien to trip."

As if on cue, Julien tripped, recovered, then launched himself into Remy's general direction, taking out his dagger in the process. Remy's two light cards drifted harmlessly to the floor. Remy kicked Julien, and pulled out and charged up his staff. Julien pulled out a second knife, this one hilted and longer than his throwing knives.

"He holds up pretty good," said Gris Gris, a note of admiration in his voice. "There aren't too many who can hold up a staff against Julien's knives."

"He's missing openings though," said Jackie.

"Deliberately," Theoren said. "I'd say Remy's figured out that the best way to beat Julien is if they both live."

Remy fell back on the lounge chair, which collapsed beneath him, and then threw his charged staff at Julien. Julien reacted immediately, tossing the staff off him, but the explosion went off a little too soon for him and his dagger and knife where blown right out of his hands. The television screen shattered.

They watched Remy get up out of out of the rubble, and Julien steady himself and get out a throwing knife.

_"You signed her death warrant, you know," Julien said, a pause and then: "You don't really think Silvia's drug overdose was an accident, did you? She used to let me in, you know, first thing in the morning, while you were still in bed. Of course, she outlived her usefulness once you broke up with her so—"_

_"You son of a bitch!"_

They watched as Remy launched himself towards Julien and his knife. For a moment—despite the fact that Jackie knew Remy had no stab wounds in the front—she thought he was going to be run through. Somehow, Remy missed the knife, but landed awkwardly. There was a flurry of activity, and then Remy was pinned against Julien, with his knife at his throat.

_"When Jackie orders my execution, she's going to sign her own death warrant too," Julien said, his voice only just audible on the tape. "I left a little parting gift in my Will; a letter that'll be sent to the FBI telling them all about the new Leader of the United Guilds, and all the lovely jobs she's pulled. With any luck, they won't even try to arrest her, they'll just shoot on sight, and that'll be the end of Jacqueline Armelle Boudreaux-LeBeau, the biggest embarrassment of the Boudreaux clan. Au revoir, LeBeau."_

Jackie touched her throat as she watched Julien run his knife across Remy's, and then pushed him to the ground.

"How—" Gris Gris began, but was distracted by Julien's glowing knife.

The biggest explosion of the night went off. Julien cried out, and when the magenta glow cleared he was without his hands.

"Merde," Theoren muttered.

Remy took his phone from his pocket. While he called Bella Donna; Gris Gris, Theoren and Jackie watched Julien take out another throwing knife with his mouth from some kind of pocket near his mouth. Remy hung up, then called Jackie. Julien readied himself, then threw himself at Remy's back, Remy gasped as the knife sunk in, and lurched over the lounge, dropping the phone. Julien reefed the knife out, then rammed it in again. Remy, supporting himself barely with one arm, kicked out at Julien, and kept kicking. He managed to kick his legs out from under him, then his arms, causing Julien to cry out in agony, and finally managed to kick Julien repeatedly in the head.

The two men collapsed, now both beyond any chance of inflicting further damage on each other.

Gris Gris, Theoren and Jackie continued watching until they saw Jackie's arrival and turned the tape off. For a moment there was silence.

"How long does Remy keep his footage for?" Theoren asked Jackie. "Would there be some of Silvia?"

"Yeah," Jackie replied quietly.

"Find it. I'll check Julien's Will and see if I can find this letter," said Theoren. "We should make sure there actually is a letter, and it's not just Julien taunting Remy."

"Agreed," said Gris Gris, sounding most grave indeed. "And let's not tell Bella Donna just yet. She'll find out soon enough and when she does it'll break her heart."

* * *

><p>Bella Donna walked into Remy's private room and tried to ignore all the paraphernalia attached to him: IVs, tubes attached to containers on the floor, a bag at the foot of the bed, monitors and an oxygen mask. She walked to his side and tentatively touched his shoulder. His eyes opened lazily and he looked at her. Bella Donna gave him the best smile she had to offer.<p>

"Hey," she said. "They said you were awake."

Remy didn't—perhaps couldn't—acknowledge her, but she knew he had heard.

"You're going to be okay," she said. "I know you don't like hospitals, but at least you know you're going to be leaving alive, right?"

There was a long pause while Remy took a couple of breaths.

"Julien," he said, his voice so low and raspy that Bella Donna had a hard time making it out.

"He's going to be okay too," she said. "In a manner of speaking. He's lost his hands."

Remy shook his head all so slightly, and a moment later said "Will." Bella Donna frowned.

"Who's Will?" she asked.

Remy toyed with the idea of saying Julien's name again, but this talking business was hard work. Instead then next word he forced out was "Jackie" which was followed by "danger" when he could get the breath to say it.

Bella Donna waited patiently for Remy to say something more, but he only looked at her expectantly. She frowned as she put the four words together.

"Julien. Will. Jackie. Danger," she said thoughtfully. "There's something in Julien's Will which puts Jackie in danger?"

Remy gave a slight nod.

"But why would Julien want to hurt Jackie? She's his niece!" she objected.

Remy just looked at her sadly. Bella Donna swallowed hard.

"I'll look into it," she said.

Remy gave her a slight nod. Bella Donna stayed with him until he fell asleep again (which really didn't take all that long), and then left. She had planned on going back to Julien again, but Remy's words were plaguing her and instead she left the hospital for the solicitor's office.

* * *

><p>By the time Bella Donna got to the solicitors, she was tired, angry, upset and in no mood to deal with the secretary who insisted she needed to have an appointment.<p>

"This is my appointment," Bella Donna informed her coldly, and stabbed a knife into the counter top.

The secretary's eyes went wide and she immediately called for the solicitor. Although initially annoyed, when he realised who his impatient client was, he quickly ushered her in and made sure his secretary didn't try to call the police.

"Julien's Will," she said the moment they were in private. "Where is it?"

"Ahem, with all due respect Madame Boudreaux—"

"I really don't care about your client confidentiality agreements," Bella Donna cut in. "Mon frère is in hospital at the moment, and I have reason to believe he may have left something in his Will that may harm my daughter. Hand it over. Now."

There was another moment's hesitation, but not valuing Julien's privacy over his own life, he agreed and located the Will.

"He doesn't mention your daughter at all," he told her as he glanced through the main document.

Bella Donna ignored him as she went through the other things in the pile. Remy seemed to think there was something in here that would hurt Jackie, and Bella Donna knew that Remy would never say such a thing unless he honestly believed it was true.

"What's this?" Bella Donna asked, picking up an A4 sized envelope.

"It appears to be a letter," he replied.

Bella Donna practically shoved it in his face. "And who is it addressed to?"

"Uhh...the FBI," he said nervously, reading off the address.

"You tell me, why would an assassin leave a letter to be sent to the FBI on his death?" she demanded.

"I would assume revenge for something," he replied. "I just make sure everything's, ahem, legal. Everything else is the client's business."

"Uh huh."

Bella Donna ripped open the envelope and pulled out a thick pile of paper. The colour drained from her face when she realised what she was reading. Jackie's entire life was in those pages; all the jobs she'd ever been on, her home and work addresses, her powers, the name of the college she'd attended. The only item of note that wasn't on there was Bella Donna's own name. She put the paper back into the envelope and concentrated very hard on not crying. She would confront the fact that her brother had tried to turn her daughter into a wanted fugitive later.

Without a word to the solicitor, Bella Donna went through the rest of Julien's things. She found nothing else important (or at least, nothing else relevant to her current concerns).

"Okay," she said, standing up and taking hold of the envelope and its contents. "I found what I was looking for. Thank you for your time."

The solicitor breathed a sigh of relief as she departed, glad to have gotten out of the encounter unharmed.

* * *

><p>"Did you get Oncle Julien's Will?" Jackie asked Theoren over the phone the next morning.<p>

"Oui and non," Theoren replied. "I have it now, but Bella Donna beat me to the solicitor. Remy woke up yesterday and tipped her off."

"Oh, Maman actually got to see Papa when he was awake?" Jackie asked. "Well, at least one of us did. How'd Maman take the news?"

"Gris Gris was the one she spoke to. You'll have to ask him."

"I'll do that," Jackie said, hesitated, and then asked: "Just how bad is it?"

"They would have surprised you at home or work, and—if they were smart—put a bullet in your head the moment they saw magenta," Theoren replied matter-of-factly. "Actually if they were smart they would have shot you on sight, but you know these types, they have to try and arrest you first. Contrary to Julien's opinion though, I don't think that the United Guilds would have split just because you were dead. We've all worked hard to keep the peace and keep our Guilds together. You're not the only Assassin and Thief any more either. Not sure how we would have worked out the Guild leader issue, but we would have figured something out."

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear that," Jackie said. "I'm sure Maman and Papa would be pleased to hear that too."

"They fought just as hard as we did—probably harder—to keep the Guilds together," Theoren said. "To split would dishonour them, amongst other things. None of this is any excuse for you to get away with not providing an heir, young lady."

Jackie laughed. "No fear! I wouldn't dream of burdening you with such a problem. Just look at all the problems it's potentially causing us now."

"Indeed."

"The one thing I can't figure out though," said Jackie. "Why didn't Oncle Julien just send it straight to the FBI instead of relying on it being sent after he was dead? That's what I would have done. You know, if I'd been in his shoes."

"I'm not sure I'm really the one to ask for a definitive view on Julien," Theoren said. "But if I were to guess, I'd say it was because there's enough information in this report to implicate a whole lot of people. Bella Donna's name isn't mentioned anywhere, but I'd say the FBI wouldn't have any problems figuring out who your mère was and by extension, your relationship to him. There's enough in here to send the Guild into hiding for years. Besides, going on what he said to Remy on the tape, he probably liked the idea of you signing your own death warrant by having him executed."

"Probably," Jackie said and sighed. "Thanks very much for your assistance, Theoren. I appreciate it."


	29. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

"Belle?" said Julien as a familiar scent and stride entered the hospital room. "That you?"

"Oui," Bella Donna replied, sitting down beside him. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, merci."

"You haven't gotten very many visitors, have you?" Bella Donna asked.

"Just the people that matter," Julien replied.

"Has Jackie visited you yet?"

"No."

"Then not _all_ the people who matter have seen you yet," Bella Donna said firmly. "You're not seeing anyone at the moment, are you?"

"No. It's been awhile."

"A shame. It might have been nice to be a tante," Bella Donna said. "Well, I know technically I am a tante, on account of Louis, but I mean by blood, not marriage."

"Sorry to disappoint," Julien replied. "I guess I'm just not the fatherly kind."

"No, perhaps not," Bella Donna said, her eyes trained on him, watching for his reaction to her next words. "But I think that very little in my life has been quite as rewarding as seeing Jackie grow up and turn into this strong, intelligent young woman. Keeping the peace between the Guilds, I think, comes in a close second. The United Guilds has definitely been worth all the hard work."

Julien didn't reply. He didn't so much as twitch.

"Of course, I know you still disagree with the uniting of the Guilds," Bella Donna went on. "Ironically, I think your aversion actually helped me in many ways."

"Oh?" Julien asked flatly. "How's that?"

"Because you were a constant reminder—especially in the beginning—that there was opposition, and that Remy and I needed to be constantly aware of how we presented things to the Guild at large, so that no one would have cause to complain or gain a foothold in tearing the Guilds apart once more," she told him. "I'd thank you, but I'm sure you wouldn't appreciate it."

"Not really, no."

"Oh, and I have to tell you what Jackie did."

Julien grit his teeth. He really didn't want to hear any more about Jackie, but knew there was no polite way to escape it.

"Jackie took over the Guild so that Remy and I could get a divorce," Bella Donna said, allowing a tinge of pride and happiness to colour her voice. "She had to talk us into it. We didn't want our marital issues to infringe on her life again, but she insisted. Remy and I filed for divorce the first chance we got. It was finalised just a few weeks ago. You're talking to a free woman."

"Well, I... Congratulations," Julien said, sounding stunned. "You never said anything?"

"We wanted to keep it quiet, at least until Jackie had established herself," Bella Donna replied. "And that moment is arriving much sooner than we thought, what with this upcoming trial."

"Ahh, oui, an execution will make or break her leadership, hein?" Julien said, knowingly.

"Mais, neither of you died, so perhaps the punishment will only be exile," said Bella Donna.

"Hmm, perhaps," said Julien. "Which way do you think it'll go?"

"I prefer not to speculate, and I am grateful not to have the burden of this decision."

"She'll side with her père, won't she?"

"I'm confident that whatever Jackie decides, she will make the right choice," Bella Donna said. "She's smart, and she has a good head on her shoulders."

"Of course she does," Julien said, and was it her imagination or did Bella Donna catch a hint of a sneer in his voice?

"I love my daughter, Julien. I love her, and I would kill anyone who tried to hurt her." Bella Donna's voice was of ice-cold steel.

"If Jackie is truly worthy of the name 'Boudreaux'," said Julien, "I doubt there'd be anything left by the time you got to them."

"No doubt."

There was quiet between them for a time, and then:

"I wish I could see you," said Julien, and lifted his bandaged arms slightly. "Now I can't even touch you."

Bella Donna leaned over and touched his face, just as he used to do to her. "I wish you could too, mon frère."

"First my eyes, then my hands," said Julien. "What's he going to take next? My legs?"

"I'm sure it won't come to that," she said, then caught some movement at the door. "I should go."

"So soon?"

"I'll be back later, I promise."

She started to get up and walk away, then paused and looked back and him.

"Julien? Is there anything you'd like to tell me?" she asked.

"Like what?"

"Anything," she said, then thought better of it and clarified: "Something to do with the other night with Remy? Or maybe something to do with Jackie?"

"No," Julien replied. "Nothing comes to mind."

Bella Donna said nothing then, just turned and walked out the door, and right into Gris Gris. She avoided his gaze, and they walked a way down the hall out of Julien's earshot.

"How long were you there for?" she asked.

"Long enough," Gris Gris replied.

"If he tells me," she began.

"_If_ he says anything, I'll be sure to make sure that Jackie knows," Gris Gris said. "By the way, congratulations on your divorce."

"Merci," Bella Donna said, having a hard time keeping a handle on her voice which sounded close to breaking. "I just wanted him to know."

Gris Gris stopped in the hallway and tucked his fingers under her chin so she was forced to look at him.

"Belle," he said gently. "You don't have to be strong all the time."

Unwanted, the tears started falling then. Bella Donna wrapped her arms around one of her oldest friends and sobbed into his shoulder.

* * *

><p>Remy hated being in hospital. He knew that he was there for his own good, of course, but he still hated it. He didn't think it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for all the equipment they had attached to him. As it was, he kept having flashbacks to when he was at Strykers, and whenever he was alone, in his mind's eye he kept seeing a doctor with a bone cutter.<p>

He liked having visitors. Visitors chased away the nightmares. Sometimes when he was awake and alone, he would try to picture his friends and family with him. Sometimes he would imagine them just sitting with him, and sometimes, when he was feeling particularly scared (not that he would ever say so out loud), he'd imagine them fighting off the evil doctors.

These fierce imaginary battles were always tempered with a seed of doubt that they would consider him worth the effort, and a feeling of foolishness. He was forty-three years old! He shouldn't still be terrified by something that happened to him when he was a kid. He _knew_ that he was safe here. He _knew _that the doctors were honestly interested in helping him, not hurting him, and the only person in the hospital who felt him any ill will was Julien; a patient, not one of the staff. Yet he couldn't seem to shake that old terror.

Remy wished Marie was here. She was the only visitor he wanted to have that he hadn't had yet, and sadly, was not likely to have. Not unless Jackie told her _and_ if she cared enough about him to worry for him in hospital. Remy didn't know what the likelihood of Marie visiting him if she knew, but he was pretty sure Jackie wouldn't tell her to begin with. The idea probably hadn't even occurred to her. Remy didn't know if he was happy or disappointed about that, but he did know that he didn't want to deal with the idea that he'd fallen so far beneath Marie's good graces that she wouldn't even consider seeing him in hospital.

Still, none of that stopped him from occasionally imagining that Marie was the one beside him. His mind played different scenarios. Occasionally, when he was feeling particularly low, Marie would show up just to tell him he deserved this, or to even help the evil doctors. Most of the time, however, she was concerned and forgiving, and would tell him she loved him, and sometimes she'd even promise never to leave him again.

"Hey Papa," Jackie said, entering his room with a duffel bag in hand. "How you doing?"

"Better now that you're here," Remy replied as she kissed his forehead. It wasn't just a line.

"Aww," she said, sitting down beside him. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

Remy grinned at her, the closest he could get to laughing right now.

"I brought some clothes for you," Jackie said, holding up the bag briefly before putting it down on the floor away from all the tubing and containers. It had been a little weird going through her father's things, and she really wasn't sure what to make of finding Marie's photo in the top drawer of his bedside table.

"Merci," Remy replied.

They chatted about little, meaningless things for a time, leaving Remy feeling like he was actually involved with his daughter's life again. The close bond they used to have before Marie came into their lives felt like it had reformed.

Eventually a nurse popped his head in and told Jackie she would have to go soon. Remy grumbled about that and Jackie grinned at him.

"I'll be back tomorrow," she assured him. "Oh, umm, before I go, we decided to have the trial after you're allowed the leave the hospital. Mais, we'll give it a couple of days but—"

"Oh goody, something to look forward to," Remy said dryly.

"Heh, yeah. We talked about leaving you out of it, but we figured the whole Guild already knows you guys were in a fight, and only you, me, Maman, Gris Gris and Theoren now how serious it is. Well, Julien does too, I guess, but he doesn't know that we know the whole story," Jackie said. "We figured it would be better if everyone was there, and that you'd probably want to see this through to the end anyway."

Remy nodded.

"Besides, I think Maman could really use your company," Jackie went on, looking perturbed. "I walked in on her crying the other day. I didn't think she ever cried."

Remy smiled weakly. "She does. She's usually pretty good at containing her tears until she's somewhere private though. Just like she taught you to do."

"Ahem, well," Jackie said awkwardly. "There was something else I was going to ask you. See, technically, you have first right of retribution, and I was wondering if you wanted to exercise that, and if not, did you want me to give you the option on the day? I ask because I don't want to give Oncle Julien the chance of calling you a coward in front of everyone if you choose not to execute him yourself, and you know he will."

Remy was silent for so long that Jackie started to wonder if he'd even heard her.

"What's your preference?" he asked finally.

Remy hated killing in the heat of the moment. He honestly didn't think he had it in him to kill an unarmed man in cold blood. A part of him felt that as a father he should spare his daughter the grisly task, but the intelligent side of him realised that Jackie had no problems killing people (as much as it saddened him), and that she was much more emotionally prepared to deal with it that he was.

"I would rather do it," Jackie said. "And to be honest, I've been planning things going under the assumption that you wouldn't want to. I have...something in mind which'll hopefully terrify everyone into behaving themselves even while I'm away."

Remy eyed Jackie cautiously. His daughter had a gleeful twinkle in her eye, and he sincerely hoped that whatever she had planned it didn't involve public torture.

"Well, you don't have to make me the offer on the day if you would prefer not to, but if I can make a request?" he asked.

"Sure."

"Don't draw out the execution," he said seriously. "Belle doesn't deserve to see him suffer any more than she already has."

Jackie nodded thoughtfully.

"That's fair," she said. "I don't want to hurt Maman either, so it actually already fits in with my plans."

"Good to know."

The nurse popped his head in again and looked at Jackie.

"Ahem," he said pointedly.

"Guess I have to go," said Jackie.

She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "See you later."

"See you," Remy replied.

"Love you, Papa."

"I love you too, Sunshine."

* * *

><p>The grand hall in the Boudreaux Mansion hadn't been so packed in years, not even since the last time they had to exile or execute a Guild member. Fortunately, such times were rare; only three times in Remy and Bella Donna's reign. The trial was being held here, as the location was well out of town and there were certain Guild events which should never be held anywhere near the general public.<p>

There was a podium at the front of the hall, behind which Jackie stood. On either side of Jackie were Gris Gris and Theoren. Remy and Julien were seated on either side, facing the front, each with a pair of guards who were really just for show. A projector had been set up.

Bella Donna had a seat front and centre in the audience with the rest of the council. Her face was stone cold, and betrayed nothing of how she truly felt. In some ways, Bella Donna herself didn't know how she truly felt; she loved her brother, and had long accepted his hatred of the Thieves in general, and Remy in particular. Somehow the fight between them seemed inevitable to her and it was almost a relief that the moment had finally come. What she was having a hard time dealing with was that Julien, who claimed to love her, would plot to not only get her daughter killed, but to undo all her hard work for the past twenty-three years. Bella Donna felt like she was the one who had gotten stabbed in the back.

Jackie was clad in her black and grey body armour, minus the mask, and a magenta cloak with the hood down. She didn't bother waiting for the crowd to settle down, she just started talking:

"There has been an altercation between two of our most prominent members," she said. "This is unacceptable. The United Guild has more important and worthwhile things to do than to fight amongst ourselves."

Jackie looked over the crowd and gave them a moment to let that sink in.

"To make matters worse," she continued, "it has become clear that one of these two set up the other. Remy LeBeau, former Patriarch of the United Guilds, says that he was ambushed in his own home by Julien Boudreaux, one of our premiere trainers. Julien says that he was at Remy's home at his invitation, an invitation which he informed council members Gris Gris and Fifolet, and premiere Assassin, Questa, of prior to the night. It is well-known that Julien has long harboured a grudge against Remy, thus making it possible that he lied about the invitation, however, logistically due to his blindness, an ambush on Julien's part would require a third party."

Jackie paused again while a couple of people in the audience decided to comment on what they thought about that. Although a part of her was inwardly pleased that most of these comments were in favour of Remy, she detested being interrupted.

"As both parties have sustained injuries, I will give the instigator one chance and one chance only to confess," Jackie said being careful not to look at either Julien or Remy longer than the other. "I'd suggest you take this opportunity, because your chance will be gone once we reveal the evidence our investigation has uncovered."

Remy suspected that Jackie was only offering this chance to Julien for Bella Donna's sake.

"Alright then," Jackie said when neither said anything. "The investigation was conducted by myself, Gris Gris and Theoren Marceaux. Fortunately, this was not a case of their word against the other, as Remy had the foresight to install surveillance cameras beforehand."

Julien clenched his jaw. Remy didn't have anything of the sort...did he? Julien mentally cursed Silvia—this was the exact sort of thing she had been supposed to find out.

"Varian, if you could play the video please."

Questa's son, Varian, who was seated by the computer controlling the projectors, hit the relevant button and on the screens appeared the footage for outside the house, the garage and the living room. During the fight, they let the living room footage fill up the screen.

After the mention of Silvia's name, they paused the video to switch to some footage Jackie had found from when Remy and Silvia had dated. Remy watched the footage for the first time and saw Silvia sneak downstairs while he was still asleep and let Julien in, who had arrived in a taxi. He watched as Silvia helped him count footsteps across the downstairs rooms, learning distances between walls, doors and furniture, going into the garage and memorising where the fuse box was and the location of the fuse he would have to cut. Remy had never checked that footage. He'd never thought he'd have to. He was still angry that Julien had killed Silvia, but he was also hurt that she would go behind his back like that.

Once sufficient Silvia footage was viewed, they switched back to the fight footage, which ended just before Jackie's arrival on the scene. Varian turned the projector off, and Theoren approached with the envelope from Julien's Will. Jackie gave Theoren the stage and he confirmed to the Guild that they had found the letter, and informed them of what the contents were and the expected consequences of it reaching the FBI.

"Remy," said Jackie, "You may take a seat."

Remy stood carefully and nodded. He walked the few metres to the spare seat besides Bella Donna for this purpose and just as carefully sat down again. Unbidden, Remy took Bella Donna's hand in his.

"You, Julien Boudreaux, have betrayed your Guild," Jackie said as she turned to her uncle, "and for that alone, the penalty is death."

Julien spat.

"My Guild?" he repeated, his voice loud for all to hear. "This is not _my_ Guild. My Guild—the Assassins Guild—died when Marius Boudreaux sold ma sœur into slavery to the Thieves Guild, and made her bear their poisonous fruit. Everything I have done was to save Bella Donna from this shameful existence, to remove all the chains tying her to the Thieves, to the LeBeaus, and to that filthy piece of street trash, Remy."

Bella Donna let go of Remy's hand and stood. She walked quietly over to Julien and placed her hand on his shoulder where her fingers touched the skin of his neck.

"Belle?" Julien said.

"Oui, it is I," said Bella Donna softly. "Je t'aime, mon frère, but you have betrayed me. To lose our parents was expected, but you tried to take away my daughter, and now you are about to succeed in taking yourself away from me."

"I was just trying to rescue you, Belle—"

"I never wanted you to die for me, Julien. I wanted you to live. And now your plan, which I never would have wanted to succeed, has failed, and you will die all the same," Bella Donna said. "You will die, never understanding that I wanted this. Maybe things didn't work out quite the way I hoped they would, and oui, there are a few things I would change, but uniting the Guilds is not one of them."

"We're better than them!" Julien insisted. "You're better than them. They're Thieves! They're scum! They're the lowest of the low and we've been training and breeding with them. This was never the future meant for us."

"Non, Julien. It was never the future that _you_ wanted."

Bella Donna removed her hand from him and sat back down next to Remy, who took her hand once more. Bella Donna avoided making eye contact with anyone and ignored Julien's cry of her name.

"That is quite enough, Julien Boudreaux," Jackie said, stepping right up to him. "You've had your last words, and it is now time for your execution. Normally, as you first attempted to kill Remy and then betrayed the Guild, Remy would have first chance at retribution. However, as I believe your crime against the Guild is greater, I shall be conducting your execution personally."

"You can torture me all you want, abomination," Julien said. "You and your kind may have poisoned ma sœur, but I know the truth, and I know what's right."

"Torture? Oh no, Oncle Julien," Jackie replied quite calmly as she place her hand on his temple. "I think you would feel vindicated by such treatment. No, I have something else in mind, something you will find a lot less satisfying."

Remy watched as his daughter looked at Julien with an expression of concentration on her face. Her eyes seemed to glow just for a moment, and then Julien's body slumped over. Jackie stepped back and the doctor she had nearby came over to check on him. The crowd murmured amongst themselves. He wasn't dead already, was he? But all she did was touch him...

"He's dead," the doctor announced after a few minutes.

"Then please remove him from my presence, and have him prepared for burial," Jackie said authoritatively. "This trial is adjourned."

Jackie turned her back on everyone, and everyone began to leave. There was still chatter, but it was somewhat subdued. Eventually only Jackie, Bella Donna and Remy were left.

"I don't know what you did, Jacqueline," said Bella Donna, "but thank you for not drawing it out."

Jackie turned and would have said "you're welcome" if the look on her mother's face hadn't said otherwise. Quietly, but quickly, Bella Donna let go of Remy's hand and departed through a side door to mourn in private. The door echoed shut behind her.

"What did you do?" Remy asked, eyeing his daughter cautiously.

"Aneurysm," Jackie replied. "I used my powers to force a blood vessel wall in his brain to weaken and fill up with blood until it ruptured. Has the benefits of giving Oncle Julien a quick death so Maman didn't need to see him suffer, allowing everyone to see their Guild leader kill someone just by touching them, and because it is quick, I don't have to hold on forever and exhaust myself trying to manipulate living matter. In hindsight, I'm thinking I should have studied medicine in college. Might have made me a more effective Assassin."

Remy was suddenly really glad Jackie _didn't_ study medicine.

"Oh well," Jackie went on, "I still prefer being an FBI agent to being a doctor anyway. And I suspect Marie would be, umm, less willing to help me with my powers if she had any idea what I knew I could do, let alone if she realised I'd been practising on homeless people again. Ugh, did I tell you she made me volunteer in a soup kitchen?"

"Numerous times," Remy replied mildly.

Jackie noted then, to her annoyance, that stupid sad look in his eye that he always got when she talked of killing people. Abruptly she remembered what Marie had said about Remy once being homeless as well. It was weird, Jackie was quite well aware that her father used to live on the streets, but she had a hard time picturing her father as a little homeless boy at all.

"Of course I only experimented on older people," she said hurriedly. "Because, you know, they're the ones at the most risk of aneurysms, not younger people. And even then, while people Oncle Julien's age can get them, the bigger risk group is 60 to 80, so...yeah."

"Nice to know you've done your homework," Remy said blandly. "Anyway, we should get going."

Jackie nodded. "Do you think we should check up on Maman first?"

"I suspect we're probably the last people she wants to see right now," Remy replied gravely. "Gris Gris'll look after her."

"He volunteered to take care of the funeral too."

"Best man for it."

* * *

><p>Marie was distracted from writing her paper by her phone singing "She's One of Those Girls". She sighed at the break in her train of thought, and snatched up her phone.<p>

"Hi Jackie," she said.

"Hey," Jackie replied. "Look, I'm going to have to cancel tomorrow."

"Oh?" Marie asked. They had been planning on working on her powers some more. "Tired of getting to know pieces of gum intimately? Because I was planning on moving onto lead pencils."

Jackie laughed. "I approve of lead pencils; they make good phallic symbols."

"Oh dear."

"But no, that's not it. Actually, I have a funeral to attend; Oncle Julien died."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Why?" Jackie asked. "You barely knew him. What do you care if he's dead?"

"Okay," Marie said. "Let me rephrase; I'm sorry for your loss. Or how about, you have my condolences."

"Eh, I'm glad he's gone. He was nothing but a creep and a jerk."

"Haven't you ever heard that you shouldn't speak ill of the dead?"

"Oui, and it's a stupid sentiment," Jackie replied. "I thought he was a bastard in life, and that hasn't changed now that he's dead."

"He's still your family, Jackie," Marie said. "And in any case, I'm sure that Bella Donna will miss him."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Okay," Marie said, deciding a change in subject was in order. "So is next Saturday still on?"

"Yeah, oh but instead of me going there," Jackie said, "you have to come here. It's well past time you met Edmund."

"Ahh, yes," Marie said slyly. "The boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

"You're having sex and living together."

"So? We're not dating. In fact we both hate dating," Jackie insisted. "And we both think that marriage is stupid and obsolete."

"Awwww," Marie said. "You've found your soulmate!"

"You know, Marie," Jackie said sweetly. "It's occurred to me that it's been awhile since we last sparred."

"You're on, sugar."

* * *

><p>Remy was not particularly impressed that his family had informed him he would be staying at the LeBeau Mansion until further notice. Okay, sure he had been told no strenuous exercise for at least six weeks, but he didn't feel that climbing stairs counted as strenuous, not even by a long stretch. Despite his objections, Remy found himself staying in a spare bedroom on the ground floor of his old home. Jackie had been thoughtful enough to grab some more of his things, though Remy didn't discount the possibility that she was just part of the conspiracy.<p>

As he entered the downstairs guest room on Valentines Day after breakfast (his childhood room was upstairs), he discovered that someone had been in there in the meantime and had left a surprise on his bedside table. He grinned when his eyes fell on the pink roses and he picked up an outrageously over-decorated home made Valentines Day card. He opened it:

_Dear Papa,  
>Ha! My turn this year!<br>Happy Valentines Day.  
>Love, Jackie<em>

* * *

><p>Marie walked into her dorm room after a full day at college, and was just a little bit disappointed when she found nothing new waiting for her. It was Valentine's Day, and she knew it was stupid to expect something from Remy there, and yet a part of her had still been hopeful. She berated that part of her severely: they were broken up. It was a <em>good<em> thing they were broken up. All the same, the part of her that still loved Remy had hoped just a little that he might pursue her, even knowing that she couldn't in good conscience take him back.

Marie sighed and dropped her bag on the floor. There was no point getting worked up about this.

"You're just going to have to get over him, Rogue," she told herself firmly.

There was another part of her that was truly disgusted by her lingering feelings for Remy. He had deliberately taken advantage of her ignorance and exploited her. Going back to Remy was no better than going back to an abusive boyfriend.

Not that she was thinking about going back to him. Nope, not her. That would be stupid. Plus, even if she could forgive the whole 'deceiving her about the Cure just so he could date her' thing, he was still married, so it would only end in heart break anyway. It had already been going that way.

Despite how bad it looked, though, Marie still couldn't credit Kitty's 'sex slave' idea. Sure from the view of an outsider it might seem that way, but Marie suspected—no, she _knew_—he was a lonely man, and his parting line of "please don't leave me" rang true with that.

Marie sighed and grabbed her handbag. She needed some ice cream, and lots of it.

* * *

><p>"By the way," Remy said one day over the dinner table. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."<p>

"And what would that be?" Henri asked.

Remy smiled as he looked at Henri, Mercy, Jean-Luc, and Carole. Louis was out with Adele.

"I got a divorce."

In a very unladylike display, Mercy sprayed the mouthful of water she'd just sipped all over the table. Henri dropped his fork and the vegetables it had been holding scattered onto the table and the floor. Jean-Luc slowly looked up from his plate and stared at Remy.

"Well," said Carole. "It's about time."

"That's what I thought too," said Remy.

"When... How..." Mercy stammered.

"January," Remy said. "Jackie and Emil were our witnesses to vouch for the fact that we'd been living apart for six months. We held off telling everyone because we didn't want it getting around too much too soon after Jackie's ascension to Guild leadership."

"Mais bon," Jean-Luc said quietly. "It is good that it is over."

"Oui, it is," Remy replied, "and it feels very weird to finally get to say I'm a divorcee. Great, but weird."

"Well, I'd say this calls for a celebration," said Carole.

"I agree," said Henri with a glint of mischief in his eye. "And I believe we have some leftover fireworks we can use."

* * *

><p>Those six weeks went past way too slowly for Remy's liking. For the most part he was okay with the restrictions, although he did tell his family off for coddling him occasionally. Still, it was nice to know that they cared.<p>

He did have work to keep him busy, of course, but there were large gaps in his day when he'd normally be exercising. He ended up using this time to go looking for carpet, paint, furniture and other things he would need so he could fix up his living room. Henri had been kind enough to arrange a crew to clean out the rubble (Remy had assured him that he kept nothing important in the living room, so they could just throw everything out). Once the room had been cleaned out, Remy organised the carpet layers to go in, and made a mental note not to get ash engrained in the carpet this time.

When at last the six weeks were up, Remy was somewhat perplexed as to why his family all felt the need to come with him. Despite his protests that an escort wasn't necessary, Jackie, Henri, Merci, Jean-Luc and Carole all insisted in joining him.

"I'm perfectly capable of driving myself," Remy said as Jackie drove.

"You don't fool me a bit," Jackie replied. "You love all the attention you're getting."

"Well...maybe."

Jackie giggled. Not long thereafter, they pulled up beside Henri's car in Remy's driveway. Remy raised his eyebrows in sight of everyone gathered out the front.

"You planning on letting me use my key, or are you going to be picking the lock?" Remy asked as he made his way to the door.

"Let's pick the lock," said Jean-Luc.

Henri grinned and gestured to the door. "After you, mon frère."

Remy inserted his key into the lock and opened up the door. Everyone just seemed a little too eager, making Remy wonder if they'd decided to prank him or something. If Emil had been in the group, he'd be certain of it.

What Remy did see wasn't what he expected: his living room had been done up.

Remy had expected to walk into an empty room with new low pile carpet and holes in the walls. Instead the walls were patched up and painted, and the room was furnished. There were new curtains on the windows (which had been cleaned), cushions on the lounges, and a remote control rack on the solid new coffee table. His new TV stand held a large widescreen TV, a new stereo system and the room had been wired with surround sound. There was a new set of shelves instead of a replacement cabinet near the door which someone (probably Carole) had put some family photos on.

He swallowed very hard as he looked around, and finally met the gaze of his family, all grinning at him like idiots.

"Thank you," Remy said. "Thanks so much."

"Oh right," said Henri, wrapping one arm over his shoulder in a half hug. "Like you couldn't see it coming."

"Actually I was half-expecting Emil to run out and spray me with silly string or something," Remy replied.

"You have a hard time believing anyone would want to do anything nice for you, don't you Remy?" Mercy said, shaking her head.

Remy just spread his hands and shrugged.

"Now, I hope you don't mind, Remy," said Carole, bustling over to him, "but I took over your kitchen for a spin."

"Mind? Why would I mind?" Remy asked, feeling far too happy to worry that she had put his meticulously kept kitchen into disarray.

Carole chuckled lightly. "I thought we could have a little something to celebrate. I also took the liberty of throwing out everything that had gone off since you've been away."

"Ahh," Remy said. "Thanks for that. I have to admit I didn't think about coming home to rotting food."

"You've had more important things on your mind," Carole said with a nod. "By the way, I love your kitchen."

"I had the original one remodelled when I moved in," Remy said, allowing Carole to lead him to the dining room. "Not as much floor space as I would have liked, but it works for me."

He walked through the doorway, and his eyes fell on the lavishly decorated chocolate cake sitting on the table with the words "Welcome Home Remy" written elegantly across it.

"Thank you, Carole," Remy said.

"No, thank you," Carole replied with a wink. "If only Lyn had a kitchen as efficient and well stocked as yours."

Remy laughed. He really only knew Carole's children from her first marriage in passing, but Lyn had never really striked him as the domestic type.

They sat around the dining table and Carole served up the cake with whipped cream. They chatted and Remy once again expressed his thanks for all the trouble they'd gone to. After extracting promises from Remy not to overdo it, Jean-Luc, Carole, Henri and Mercy left, leaving him home with Jackie.

"You know, Papa," Jackie said as she sat down next to him on his new three-seater lounge. "There's nothing stopping you from moving back into the mansion permanently."

"Sure there is," Remy replied. "I've gotten used to living here."

"Well, that I guess," Jackie said. "But I just meant, you know, if you wanted someone to live with, instead of being on your own."

Remy shrugged. "Maybe one day I will. Speaking of living with people, how are you and Edmund working out?"

"Pretty good actually," Jackie replied. "So far the only real bone of contention has been when he has lady friends over."

"Jealous?" Remy asked slyly.

"Don't be stupid," she said, giving her father a Look. "When he has other women over for the night, I have nowhere to sleep. To say nothing of crimping his style."

"He's not into threesomes?" Remy asked mischievously.

"No, but he's experienced and he has a hot accent," Jackie replied with equal mischief. "He says that's the best part about living in a foreign country; all the women think his accent is hot."

Remy laughed heartily.

"Actually, I haven't really been indulging in many threesomes lately," Jackie said.

"Got bored?" Remy asked, secretly hoping she was past the whole 'group sex' phase.

"No, I..." Jackie trailed off and looked away. "The thing is..."

"Jackie?" Remy prompted gently, concerned with her abrupt disquiet.

Jackie swallowed hard.

"I was raped," she said, her voice thick and the words so quiet that Remy almost didn't hear them.

"What?" Remy exclaimed, horror in his voice and eyes.

"I was raped," Jackie said, her voice getting thicker with the strain not to cry, and the words pouring out before she could stop any of them. "He asked me for sex and I turned him down 'cause he didn't want a threesome unless it was two girls, so then he put GHB in my beer and when that didn't work he ambushed me with a rag drenched in ether. When I came to, he was in me and I can't remember him getting there and...and..."

Despite her mental admonishments of "crying is for the weak", she couldn't stop the tears from coming. It was like a dam had burst, and it only increased when she felt her father's loving arms wrap tightly around her.

Remy let Jackie cry, and he didn't say a word or make a sound that he thought might inhibit her. He just held her close and let her tears soak his shirt.

"I'm sorry," she said when she could stop crying long enough to speak again. "I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay to cry," Remy assured her. "In fact, right now crying is very important."

"I just feel so stupid," Jackie said, looking down at their laps. "I knew he was trouble. I never should have let down my guard and he smelt of gasoline. I should have known that—"

"It wasn't your fault."

"Don't patronise me," Jackie snapped at him. "That's the same thing all those stupid websites say too, and they don't know anything! It's just a generic cover-all to placate the weak and the pathetic and—"

"Jackie," Remy interrupted firmly. "You can go over what happened over and over inside your head as often as you like."

Jackie threw Remy a startled look, as if amazed he knew what she'd been doing.

"At the end of the day," Remy went on. "That...that _thing_ decided he was going to rape you. The fact that he tried a second time is proof in itself that he would have kept trying until he got to you. It wasn't your fault."

"What would you know?" Jackie said bitterly.

"I know it took me years to come to that conclusion," Remy replied seriously. "I've been where you are—"

"You've been raped?" Jackie asked him disbelievingly.

"No, I wasn't sexually violated, but I was physically violated over and over for two years."

Jackie snorted. "Not the same thing."

Remy caught her chin and lifted her head so she was forced to look at him.

"You don't think that I go over my abduction again and again and again?" he asked her. "You don't think that I've gone over all the ways I could have gotten out of that situation? Once Stryker found out about me, his men weren't going to stop until they caught me. For deux years I was beaten, cut open, punctured by needles, electrocuted, left bleeding in my cage, forced to live with the smell of my own stink 'cause a bucket in the corner was the only thing I had to relieve myself in. You don't think I remember the crying, and the screaming... And it wasn't just me."

Jackie swallowed and regarded the screwed up expression on Remy's face. "You're not going to cry now, are you?"

Remy dropped his hand from her chin, taking her hand instead. He offered her the faintest of smiles.

"These things stay with you. I feel stupid sometimes too, like in the hospital. I knew up here," Remy said, pointing to his head, "that I was safe, and I was being looked after. But all those tubes and needles and machines with their beep-beep-beeping..."

Remy looked away and swallowed hard.

"Flashbacks, you know?" he said. "And I kept thinking that any minute a doctor was going to walk in with a...with a bone cutter or something and merde, you'd think after all these years I'd be past that but...but I'm not."

"You were scared?" Jackie asked tentatively.

"Terrified," Remy said, and ran his fingers through her hair. "But you helped me."

"I did?"

Remy nodded. "Just having visitors helped distract me and keep the fear away. And then, when I was alone, I used to imagine you were still there, and that helped too. Sometimes, when it was really bad, I used to imagine that everyone I cared about was there, and they would fight off the evil doctors who were trying to get me."

"Really?" she asked.

"Really," Remy said, then added wryly: "Guess who's feeling weak and pathetic now."

"I hate feeling weak and pathetic," Jackie replied, looking back down again.

"We all do. Unfortunately, no one is invulnerable, and we all have to learn how to deal with being vulnerable, particularly at those times when our personal security has been stripped from us," Remy said.

"Marie said I should go to a victims support group."

Remy nodded. "Do you want to?"

Jackie shook her head. "No. I mean, I got a few addresses, and I was going to check them out but...but I can't bring myself to walk in."

"Well, I'd offer to come with you for morale support, but I suspect that a grown man wouldn't be very welcome," Remy said seriously. "Maybe Marie will—"

"No, I don't want to talk to her about it. I don't care that she already knows."

Remy nodded, knowing what she wasn't saying: that Marie had only found out because she absorbed her, and that Jackie hadn't even intended on telling him what happened.

"I'm so sorry," he said.

"What are you sorry for?" Jackie asked, sounding sour. "You didn't do anything."

"I'm sorry for not being there for you when you needed me," Remy said. "I would have liked to have thought you could have been able to come to me about this when it happened. And I'm sorry that I put Marie between us."

"You think I didn't tell you because of Marie?" Jackie said, meeting his eyes.

"It's not?" Remy asked. "Because we used to be close before—"

"Papa, I didn't tell you because I hate the way you look at me when I talk about killing people," Jackie said.

Remy let out a long, slow breath.

"Then I'm doubly sorry that I made you think you couldn't come to me with something like this," he said seriously. "Jackie, there are a few reasons why I hate killing, but two of the main ones are that too often innocent people are the ones doing the dying, and unlike things," and Remy gestured to his newly cleaned up and refurnished room, "people are not replaceable."

Jackie sniffed.

"Now, this scum sucking bottom dweller; if it wasn't bad enough that he hurt you, he probably also hurt other women, and probably intended to go on hurting women," Remy said. "He's far from innocent, and I'm _ecstatic_ he's not replaceable."

Jackie wrapped her arms around him, and rested her tear-strained face against his shoulder.

"You remember that fire at the college my last year? Just before Thanksgiving?" she asked.

"Oui."

"It started in his crotch."

"Good place for it."

Jackie made a noise that was part sob and part laugh. Remy held her tight.

"I love you Sunshine," he said softly.

"I love you too, Papa."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>I wrote this scene originally intending for Remy to still be in hospital on Valentines Day. Upon further research, that was deemed unlikely, so I went with the 'Jackie leaves a surprise for Remy on her way to work' idea, much like he used to do for her. Of course that meant that I couldn't have this conversation and I love this conversation *hugs it*

**Deleted scene:**

"Happy Valentines Day by the way," Jackie went on, and held out an outrageously over-decorated home made Valentines Day card.

Remy's grin broadened as he accepted the card.

"Merci, Sunshine," he said. "Wow, I haven't gotten a card like this from you in years."

"That's 'cause shoplifting cards is so much more entertaining," said Jackie. "Especially if you're swiping a 'sorry I couldn't be there' card."

"When have you ever needed to give someone a card that says that?" Remy asked.

"Never, but I'm thinking I should start sending them to the council for all the meetings I'm going to miss," she joked.


	30. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

Remy and Bella Donna stood on the edge of the party and watched as their friends and family socialised in the dining hall. Jackie had decided to throw a dinner party for the Guild's Anniversary. Everyone was in formal wear, there was live music, and now that the lavish courses were done many were getting up to dance.

"I have to say, this isn't quite the party I was expecting from Jackie," Bella Donna said. "I thought she was going to suggest something a bit more..."

"Loud?" Remy suggested. "Sensual? Inappropriate?"

"All of the above."

Remy chuckled.

"This is it," Bella Donna went on with a nod to the crowd. "This is everything we worked so long for, isn't it?"

"Oui," Remy said, looking out on the Thieves and Assassins all getting along and enjoying each others company. "This is exactly what we worked for. I'd say it was worth it."

"I wish Père could have seen this."

"Marius lived long enough to see where things were headed," Remy replied firmly. "I've no doubt that he knew everything was going to work out just fine."

"I hope so."

After a few moments spent watching their people at peace with one another, Remy spoke once more:

"I notice you didn't bring a date tonight," he said.

"I wasn't in the mood," Bella Donna replied. "And it didn't seem worth it now that we're finally over."

"I know what you mean," Remy said, then added slyly: "You're still wearing your wedding ring."

"Hmm? Oh. Yes, well, I thought that it would be best if I kept wearing it for the time being," Bella Donna said. "Discretion."

"Mmmhmm. It wouldn't be because it's stuck at all."

"Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

"I understand that Jackie's learned a few new tricks with her powers recently," Remy said. "I believe she may be able to help you without hurting those pretty fingers of yours."

"I'll be sure to enquire," Bella Donna replied, paused and then added "Shut up."

Remy laughed.

"No date for you tonight either," Bella Donna said.

"There's only one person I'm interested in dating," Remy replied.

"I always knew you dating Jackie's friend was a bad idea," Bella Donna said, almost sounding smug. "Really Remy, I still can't believe you would hurt Jackie just to hurt me."

"Okay so the first time you saw us together? Yeah, I'll admit that was to hurt you, and I wouldn't have done it if I'd realised Jackie would be upset by it," Remy said irritably. "But I continued dating Marie because I liked her, not because I want to hurt you."

"I just wasn't that important any more, hein?" Bella Donna's tone was loaded.

"Belle, you will always be important to me," Remy replied. "Hurting you no longer is."

Bella Donna sighed, and there was more silence for a moment.

"I may have, on occasion, bullied or threatened someone to be my date at the Guild Anniversary party," she said.

Remy grinned. "I may have, on occasion, paid someone to be my date."

Bella Donna started giggling. "Mon dieu, we're pathetic."

"You think we might have actually managed to save our marriage if we hadn't been so busy hurting each other?" he asked.

"Dieu, who knows? Let's not think about it."

Remy wrapped his arm around her shoulder and grinned at her, giving Bella Donna the first genuinely fond look she had received from him in years.

"At least we know all those years weren't completely wasted," he said.

"Indeed," Bella Donna said with a nod. "How are you doing, Remy? Your injuries, I mean."

"Great now that the six weeks are finally up and the 'no strenuous exercise' ban is lifted," Remy replied, relief evident in his voice. "I can finally get back to my regular exercise routine."

"So you're visiting brothels again?" Bella Donna inquired slyly.

"You have such a dirty mind."

"I've known you for thirty-five years, Remy. What did you expect?"

* * *

><p>Jackie sat on the lounge in Edmund's apartment, leaning against the arm, and ran a lead pencil through her fingers. Marie sat on the other side of the lounge and watched patiently. Jackie let the pencil go, and it began to float in the air with a faint magenta sparkle.<p>

Then the front door opened and Jackie lost her concentration. The lead pencil fell with a pop and landed scorched on the cushion.

"I got the tickets for the show," Edmund said as he entered, then noticed Marie. "Oh, we have company."

"Oui, Ed, this is Marie," Jackie said. "Marie, this is Edmund."

"Your the one helping Jackie with her powers?" Edmund asked as he walked towards them, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"That's right," Marie said. "It's nice to finally meet you. I've heard quite a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope," Edmund replied.

"Of course."

"I've only heard good things about you too."

"Aww shucks," Marie said with a grin. "What show did you get tickets for?"

"We're going to be seeing _Chicago_ in a couple of weeks," Edmund replied.

"Oh really?" Marie asked, turning her head to grin mischievously at Jackie. "Just the two of you, or are others going with?"

"Just the two of us," Jackie replied darkly. "And it's not a date."

"Suuuure it's not."

"We're just friends who have a common interest in theatre."

"Whatever you say."

"Stop patronising me," said Jackie, picking up the pencil, "or I may just decide that this pencil will look better through your skull."

"I like theatre too," said Marie, still grinning away. "If you guys decide to go to another show before I graduate, may I come too? Since we'd all be friends and you wouldn't be on a date or anything."

"Since we just met," said Edmund, "I don't think we really qualify as friends right now, and you're not really making a good impression on me at the moment."

"Sorry," Marie said sincerely. "I wasn't trying to irritate you, sugar, just torment Jackie."

Jackie waved the pencil at her. "Isn't this torment enough?"

"Hey, you had ample opportunity to learn psudeo-telekinesis off your father," Marie said. "Not my fault if you slacked off."

"Pesudo-telekinesis?" Edmund asked, making himself at home on another lounge.

"You know Jackie's micro-kinetic right?" Marie said as Jackie went back to concentrating on the pencil, and Edmund nodded. "Okay so micro-kinesis is telekinesis on the microscopic scale. But it can be used to mimic normal telekinesis, and I'm just calling that mimicry 'pseudo-telekinesis' because I just like the way it sounds."

"Okay, so how does it work?"

Marie was silent for a moment as she decided on the best way to explain it. Finally, she pulled out another lead pencil she had brought and put it down on the coffee table.

"Move the pencil," she instructed him.

"Oookay," Edmund said slowly. "Where?"

"Anywhere."

Edmund regarded Marie's perfectly serious expression for a moment, then reached over and moved the pencil three inches to the left.

"What did you do?" Marie asked.

"I moved the pencil, just like you told me," Edmund replied, looking at Marie like she was some kind of weirdo.

"No, what did you do in detail," Marie said.

"Umm, you told me to move the pencil," Edmund said slowly, "so I leaned over and picked up the pencil and—"

"Before you picked up the pencil, and after leaning over, what did you do?" Marie asked.

"I...touched the pencil?"

"Exactly," said Marie. "Before you can move anything, physically or mentally, you need to make contact with it first. So before you try to, say, move this lounge, you first need to touch it. Of course, after that you also need to get into the right position to move it, and it's probably a bit big and cumbersome for you to do more than slide it across the floor without help, but that's not the point."

Marie reached for her glass of water on the table and took a sip before continuing:

"Now telekinesis works in much the same way, only instead of making physical contact with an object, it needs to make mental contact with it. Most telekinetics, at least ones new to their powers, anyway, have an easier time contacting larger objects than smaller ones because of the greater substance," she said.

"So a normal telekinetic would have no problems moving the lounge, but the pencil would give them trouble?" Edmund asked.

"That's right. There's more to it than just that, of course, but that gets us started," Marie said. "Now, micro-kinetics are capable of making contact with micro particles. There are billions of micro particles in the head of a pin alone. In order for a micro-kinetic to mimic telekinesis, they have to make contact with every single particle in the object and move each one at the same speed in the same direction at the same time."

As if on cue, the pencil Jackie was concentrating on started floating up in the air again.

"How many billions of particles in a pencil?" Edmund inquired, his eyes practically glued to the pencil.

"A lot," Jackie replied.

"What happens when they don't all move at the same speed in the same direction at the same time?" Edmund asked.

"You wreck the object they belong to," Marie said. "If the particles are moved slowly enough, the object can get warped out of shape. If the particles are moved fast, things blow up."

"I make things go boom," Jackie said gleefully.

"So how does Jackie change her eye colour then?" Edmund asked.

"She rearranges the micro particles in her eyes," Marie said. "She is, in essence, warping her eyes."

The pencil brightened with magenta light and blew up.

"Wow," said Jackie, lifting her hand to her eyes. "I never thought of it that way."

"You're lucky living tissue fights you and tries to revert," Marie said seriously. "You could do some serious damage to your eyes that way."

"That didn't have anything to do with the headaches, did it?" Jackie asked.

Marie waggled her hand. "I couldn't say for absolute certain. But I can tell you that your body was trying to rip itself apart at the microscopic level and that the living tissue thing was probably the only thing keeping you together."

"Ugh, why would my powers try to rip myself apart?"

"Power analysis might be a specialty of mine, but I wouldn't call myself an expert," Marie said. "A power flare up means your powers are trying to move forward, that's all I can tell you. Hopefully, by doing these exercises, you can better equip yourself to stabilise your body in the future and prevent them from happening."

"Why the light show?" Edmund asked, looking at the last of the pencil on the lounge.

Marie shrugged. "Some powers come with colours. I know a telekinetic who makes things go green when he's using his powers. Don't ask me to explain how that works; I have no idea."

"You sure ask a lot of questions," Jackie said, eyeing off Edmund and hoping she wasn't going to have to kill him one day.

"Can't help a guy for being curious, pet," Edmund replied.

"He's just interested in the life of his friend," Marie said, a sly smile on her face. "Because he cares about you. You know, as a _friend_."

"I don't think you're the one with warped eyes, Jackie," Edmund said dryly.

"Stop insinuating crap, Marie," Jackie said, scowling.

"But why? You react so well," Marie replied, grinning back.

"We are sleeping around with other people too, you know," Jackie said. "And I know how highly you think of open relationships."

Marie pulled a face. "Open relationships are for the weak."

Jackie burst out laughing and Edmund had no idea what was so funny.

* * *

><p>With only less than two months left before her long-awaited graduation, Marie hadn't expected to get an invitation to go to the theatre with Jackie and Edmund. She was therefore pleasantly surprised to be invited to go see <em>42nd Street<em> with them only a few weeks later.

"Jackie invited another friend as well," Edmund said from the front passenger seat as Marie got into the car.

"Alright," Marie said. "So, how have you been?"

"Not too bad, and yourself?"

"Pretty good. Really, really looking forward to finally graduating."

"I just bet you are."

They were about halfway to their destination, when Marie started recognising scenery. She frowned to herself, and her frown deepened when she realised they were turning down Remy's street. If she didn't know better, she'd say Jackie was setting her up.

"Jackie," Marie said tersely when they pulled up in Remy's driveway. "Why are we at your dad's place?"

"Your dad?" Edmund repeated, his eyes wide with alarm. "I thought we were picking up a friend!"

"What?" Jackie asked, glancing at Edmund curiously. "Papa can be mon ami and mon père at the same time. I'll be right back."

"Bloody hell!" Edmund exclaimed and looked anxiously at Marie as Jackie got out of the car. "Is there anything I should know about him?"

Marie blinked, then realised that Edmund would have no idea that she and Remy used to date. It was perfectly understandable that he might be freaked out about meeting with Remy when he was sleeping with his only daughter.

"Umm, I doubt he'll have any problems with you sleeping with Jackie," Marie assured him. "What's more likely to happen is that they'll freak you out by discussing their sex lives."

"Come again?"

While Marie shared the tales of the various disturbing conversations between Remy and Jackie she had been witness to, Remy opened up his front door. Jackie stepped inside before Remy could step out.

"You should bring your divorce papers," she said while Remy was in the middle of putting his trench coat on.

"My divorce papers?" Remy repeated. "Why?"

"Because I don't think Marie will believe you without them," Jackie replied, a slight smile on her face.

Remy stared at Jackie. He licked his lips nervously.

"Marie?" he asked tentatively.

"Uh huh," Jackie said with a nod. "She and Ed are coming with us."

Remy caught his breath sharply and glanced towards the window, getting a glimpse of two figures in Jackie's car.

"Sunshine," he said nervously. "Are you... Does this..."

"Don't get me wrong," Jackie said. "I still think you and Marie are kinda icky, but...but I believe you when you say you love her, and well, I guess the perverse side of me wants to know if you can win with a two and a seven."

Remy cracked a smile. "Jackie, I... Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Yeah, well, that's all the help you're getting from me," Jackie said. "Vouching for the divorce, and that's it. You're on your own after that. I happen to be on her side."

"That is more than I would have ever expected," Remy said. "I'll go get the papers and be down in a second."

"Good. I'll be back in the car," Jackie said, gesturing with her thumb in the general direction of the driveway. "It's just occurred to me why Ed looked so freaked out when I told him you were coming."

Remy laughed lightly. "I promise I won't give him a hard time."

"You'd better not."

Jackie grinned at Remy and then trotted back out to the car.

"Jackie—" Edmund began the moment she got back in.

"Désolé, Ed," Jackie said. "I forgot that this would be the first time you and Papa would meet. I've never really done the whole 'meet the parents' thing before. Trust me, Papa's cool. He won't give you a hard time or anything."

"A little notice would have been nice," Edmund said tersely.

"Yeah, sorry," Jackie said sincerely. "But believe me when I say that the parent you have to worry about meeting is Maman, and I will definitely give you warning should that ever happen."

"Jackie," said Marie. "Just why did you invite Remy anyway?"

"He likes theatre too," Jackie replied, giving Marie a 'well duh' look in the rear view mirror. "Why else?"

Marie leaned back in her seat and glowered out the window. If Jackie had been anyone else, Marie would have suspected her of trying to set her up with her ex-boyfriend. Since Jackie hated them dating, Marie could only assume that this was some kind of revenge for something, possibly the boyfriend comments she had made about Edmund.

Remy's heart was in his throat as he exited his house and joined Marie in the back seat of the car. It had been months since he'd last seen her, but she looked just as beautiful as he remembered. He didn't dare hope that she might actually take him back.

"Hi Marie," he said.

Marie didn't reply and Jackie piped up before any awkward silences could start:

"Papa, this is Edmund," she said. "Ed, this is mon père."

"Just call me Remy," Remy said, leaning forward and holding out his hand.

"Just call me Ed," Edmund replied, shaking Remy's hand, and trying not to sound as nervous as he felt.

"Pleasure to finally meet you," Remy said. "And thanks by the way."

"Thanks?" Edmund asked, blinking. "For what?"

"For giving ma fille a place to stay when she needed one," Remy said. "That was very good of you."

"Oh, well, it was my pleasure," Edmund replied graciously. "Jackie's a wonderful lady."

Jackie snorted as she started the car. "Don't start calling me a lady, cher."

"And it turns out she's a pretty good cook," Edmund went on as they drove off towards the theatre. "Which I completely appreciate on those nights when she's not too busy to cook."

Remy glanced over at Jackie. "Since when do you cook?"

"Ha!" Jackie said scornfully. "You don't think I learned anything from watching you in the kitchen?"

"Point taken," Remy said, then grinned slyly at Edmund. "So, you're clean?"

"Uhh..." Edmund said. "Clean?"

"You know, STDs, STIs, whatever the hell they're calling them these days," Remy said. "You get tested regularly?"

"Oh, of course," Edmund replied, feeling awkward.

"And you use protection, of course?"

"Aye sir."

"Papa," Jackie said, a frown in her voice.

"Just looking out for you, Sunshine," Remy said. "And no need to call me 'sir'. So, you from Newcastle itself or the surrounding area?"

"Newcastle," Edmund replied.

"Oh good. I was pretty sure I recognised a Geordie accent, but I'm much more familiar with the North Americans ones than the European ones," Remy said. "We went to Newcastle for a vacation once."

"Aye, Jackie mentioned that."

"So, what brings you to N'Orleans?"

"The sun."

Remy laughed and Edmund grinned with a little relief.

"I'm a marine engineer," Edmund said.

"Oh? Sunshine, what's it with you and rooming with engineers?" Remy asked, using the excuse to glance at Marie, who was still refusing to look at him.

"Engineers are hot," Jackie said, "and they do the best things with their hands."

"Yeah, that wasn't suggestive at all," Marie said dryly.

"I'm sure that all your ex-boyfriends agree that you do awesome things with your hands," Jackie replied mischievously.

Remy knew he did, but he figured now wasn't the best time to voice that particular sentiment.

"So," Edmund said to Remy. "Jackie tells me you and, uhh, Mrs Boudreaux run a recreation centre?"

"Oui," Remy replied. "You're welcome to come visit any time. Literally, we're open twenty-four hours. If you're interested, I can slip you a free membership."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," Edmund said.

Remy and Edmund carried the weight of the conversation to the theatre, chatting like the instant friends they'd become. Jackie piped up and commented every now and then. Marie just stayed quiet in her corner, and looked out the window.

Marie didn't want to look at Remy, and was determined to go the entire evening without looking at him. If she looked at him she was sure she'd end up hitting him, or worse, end up kissing him. She hated that part of her was so very excited and happy to see him again. She was not going to date a married man. She certainly wasn't going to get back together with a married man who had tricked her into dating him in the first place.

It took a great deal of restraint on Remy's part not to take Marie into his arms and kiss her senseless the moment they stepped out of the car. It was hard enough resisting the urge to simply hold her hand, or wrap his arm around her waist.

"So, Marie," Remy said as they walked towards the theatre. "Did you end up getting those last deux classes you needed?"

"Yep," Marie replied, looking straight ahead.

"Got any plans for after graduation?"

"Yep."

"Other than going to New York?"

"Yep."

They walked through the theatre doors then, and Jackie flashed Remy a sympathetic look. Remy gave a slight shrug. It hurt getting the cold shoulder, but he had known it wasn't going to be easy. They headed out to the waiting room and found an empty table to sit around. Jackie glanced over at the bar.

"Who wants drinks?" Jackie asked. "I'm in the mood for a little white wine."

"I will," said Remy.

"I'll just have water," said Marie.

"Well, I'm up for the wine," said Edmund. "Did you want a hand with the drinks?"

"I'll help," Marie said quickly before Jackie could reply. "I want to see what else they have."

"That would be appreciated," said Jackie.

"Here," Remy said, holding out a couple of notes to Jackie. "It's on me."

"Merci."

Jackie ignored Marie's tight-lipped silence on the way to the bar. She hoped that setting them up wasn't going to be a mistake. Actually, Jackie was convinced that it was a mistake, regardless of the outcome, she was just hoping for a small mistake rather than a big one.

They bought the drinks and then returned to Remy and Edmund who were back in conversation again, much to Jackie's amusement. She was glad at least one good thing was going to come out of tonight, aside from enjoying the musical.

Marie found it harder to ignore Remy now that they were at the table, but she felt that it was easier to not look at him if she sat beside him rather than sitting across from him. They spend most of the time waiting listening to Edmund regale them with tales of culture shock and misunderstandings; calling all Americans 'Yankees', swearing off all American chocolate as inferior, his first encounter with the American health system, and various differences in general slang.

A few minutes before the doors opened, Jackie pulled out the tickets.

"We're in row J," Jackie said as she handed the tickets out. "I think that's a pretty good letter."

"I wonder why?" Remy asked, accepting his ticket. "Merci."

"Did we want to head over to the doors?" Edmund asked.

The others agreed, and the group arrived at the doors just as it was announced that the doors would be opening soon. As a result, they were amongst the first through their designated entry. They showed their tickets to the usher, who lead them to row J.

Edmund walked down the row first to seat 13, beside him sat Jackie, then Marie, and finally Remy sat down in seat 16, much to Marie's dismay. She was pretty such that Jackie had set up this seating arrangement deliberately, but was unable to think of a good excuse to swap with Edmund before the lights dimmed. Marie kept her hands firmly planted in her lap and made sure that her left arm got nowhere near Remy's arm. She was gratefully distracted by the musical and succeeded in forgetting Remy's presence long enough to enjoy herself.

The first act came to a close. As the lights came up for intermission, Edmund turned to his companions.

"I'm going to get some snacks," he said. "Anyone else want anything?"

"I'd like some ice cream," Jackie said. "Chocolate, preferably."

"I'm right, thanks," Marie replied.

"Likewise," Remy added.

"Alright," Edmund said, and squeezed past them.

The moment that Edmund was in the aisle walking away, Remy turned to Marie. She was sitting with her back slightly angled towards him.

"Marie—" he began.

"I'm not interested in anything you have to say," Marie replied tersely.

"Okay," Remy said, pulling out his divorce papers. "How about something I have to show you?"

Marie was about to respond when he placed the divorce papers in her lap. She caught her breath as her eyes landed on the word "divorce" printed in bold black ink in front of her. She swallowed hard and her hand shook slightly as she unfolded it.

"H-how?" she asked, still didn't look at him and went on accusingly: "I thought you said you couldn't."

"We found a loophole," Remy said. "You're now sitting between the new leader of the United Guilds and one of her two lieutenants."

Marie darted a look at Jackie. Jackie grinned back at her.

"Never would have worked when I was younger," Jackie said wickedly.

"Why are you doing this?" Marie asked, fighting to keep her voice even. "I thought you hated us dating."

"I do," Jackie replied with a shrug. "But if being with Papa would make you happy... Well, I'll just have to figure out a way to get over it. Right now, though, I'm just vouching for the divorce being real. The rest is up to him."

"Marie, I know I don't have any right to ask you to come back—" Remy said.

"Damn straight you don't," Marie said, looking forward again and still refusing to let herself look at him. "You took advantage of me. You exploited me."

"And it was the best decision I ever made," Remy said, then went on quickly before she could do anything more than glare at him with unbridled fury. "Because I got to know the most amazing, incredible woman I have ever met; who would make me fall in love again and inspire me to find a way out of the hellhole my life had become."

"Oh no," Marie said, wagging her finger at him. "You do not get to use your silver tongue on me, Swamp Rat. This is not happening. There are no excuses for what you did. And even if I did by some small chance even consider taking you back, how do I know you wouldn't lie to me again to get me to stay with you?"

"I swear, I won't do it to you again," Remy said in earnest, a small spark of hope that she hadn't completely rejected him.

"Oh right, like an abusive boyfriend swears he won't ever hit her again," Marie snapped.

Remy winced. That one hurt.

"Chère if I have to lie to you for you to stay with me again," Remy said determinedly, "then one, things would already be going down the toilet; and deux, I know if you ever found out I was, you'd leave me and take with you any chance of reconciliation."

He wanted to add that it had been killing him knowing she was only dating to him because he'd been deceiving her, but he somehow didn't think that would bear any weight with her right now.

"I don't trust you not to hurt me again," Marie said. "I don't even know if I can believe you when you say you love me."

"I do love you, Marie," Remy said earnestly.

"I'm sure you said the exact same thing to Bella Donna," Marie retorted.

"Eww," Jackie said.

"And you cheated on her most of your married life," Marie went on hotly, ignoring Jackie. "And don't give me this whole 'she started it' crap. I don't care who started it, you continued it. And twenty years is one hell of a bad habit to break, Remy. How do I know you wouldn't cheat on me? I mean, I know I can't be overly critical, seeing as how a couple of those years were with me, but that's not the point."

"I don't want to be with anyone but you."

"Sure, you say that now, but how do I know first fight we have won't sent you to the nearest brothel?"

Remy nodded.

"I guess we don't," he said. "I guess all I can really promise you is that I will try. And look, Marie, if you ever have any doubts, please absorb me."

"Absolutely not."

"I don't want what happened with Belle to happen with you," Remy said.

"And I don't want to date anyone I've absorbed," Marie said firmly. "I would much rather ask you first and then believe your answer."

"I'd like that too, but that doesn't always work in practice. I told Belle over and over again that I wasn't cheating and she refused to believe me," Remy said. "Please, Marie, I want you to be able to know for sure that I'm not cheating."

"Remy, if I have to absorb you in order to believe you, then we have a lousy relationship," Marie replied. "And if you are cheating on me, the last thing I want is my cheating ex-boyfriend floating around in my head for the rest of my life. Besides, what you're proposing is completely uneven. You can't read my mind as well. What? You _want _to go from one bad relationship to another?"

"No," Remy said, almost reluctantly. "Absorption as a last resort?"

"I haven't agreed to take you back yet," Marie said stubbornly, folding her arms across her chest and staring back towards the stage.

Remy was too busy being excited by her use of the word 'yet' to be disappointed.

"I know, and I'm not pushing you to make a decision right now, I just wanted to plead my case," he said, now finding it hard to resist the urge to hold her hand as he knew she was sensitive to physical contact and didn't want her to think he was trying to manipulate her that way. "Marie, I love you so much. I never thought it was possible for me to love someone like this ever again. My heart has been broken and mended and torn to pieces and stitched up again so many times I can barely recognise it. I know you never asked for it, but in your hands my heart has been made whole once more, and I can't turn my back on what we had; on what we _could_ have."

Jackie resisted the urge to make gagging noises.

"I can't promise you happily ever after," Remy went on. "I can promise you that things will be different. They're already different; you don't have to feel guilty about dating a married man, because I'm not married any more."

Marie licked her lips and turned her head towards Jackie.

"Are you sure you're okay with this?" Marie asked.

"Nope, you're not putting this one on me," Jackie replied. "I've given Papa permission to try and fix things with you, and I've done my vouching, and that's all I'm going to do. Your final decision is _your_ final decision."

Marie swallowed hard. Finally she folded the divorce papers up again and slowly turned to Remy.

"Just so you know," Marie said firmly, holding the papers out to him. "This is your golden ticket. This is the _only_ reason why I'm giving you a second chance. Do not make me regret it."

"Noted and appreciated," Remy replied, and there was no hiding the sheer joy in his face. "Let's try this again, shall we? Bonjour, I'm Remy."

Marie smiled at Remy's offered hand.

"Rogue," she said, taking his hand. "My name's Rogue."

"A pleasure to meet you, Rogue," Remy said, and he gave the back of her hand a kiss.

Rogue looked down at their hands, then back up at his lips. Without a word, she took her hand from his and did what she really wanted to do: cupped his face and kissed him. Although initially surprised, Remy responded quickly and excitedly. He thought he'd never get to taste her sweet lips again, and yet here she was, deepening the kiss and mingling her tongue with his.

Edmund returned, carrying his goodies from the bar. He raised his eyebrows as he passed Remy and Rogue (who managed to pull their legs in enough to let him pass without breaking off their kissing). He sat back down in his seat.

"So," he said as he sorted himself out. "Is there a reason why Marie is snogging your father?"

"Ugh," Jackie said, using the hand closest to Marie to block her peripheral vision on that side. "Don't tell me that. I'm trying to ignore the obscenity that's going on over there."

"Alright," Edmund said. "Well, I have crisps, coke, and here's your ice cream."

"Oh goody," Jackie said with relief, practically snatching the ice cream away from him. "Comfort food."


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

As per her request for their date, Remy waited in the parking lot outside of Rogue's dorm block rather than coming in and trying to locate her room. He leaned against the door of his car while he waited, his eyes on the main door. Just when he was wondering if he should go in anyway, the doors opened and Rogue emerged, looking gorgeous in her little green dress and white knee-high boots. As she sauntered over to him, she tucked one while lock of hair behind her ear.

"Hi," she said.

"Bonsoir, ma chère," Remy said, taking her hand and kissing it. "You look beautiful, as always."

Rogue smiled. "Why thank you, kind sir."

Remy chuckled lightly and opened up the passenger door for her, figuring she probably wouldn't want to climb over the door in her dress. He closed the door after her, then hurried to his side of the car and climbed in. He could scarcely believe how nervous he was about this, but he was determined that their first 'real' date was a success.

"So, umm," Rogue said as they drove off, "I just want to say now that _if_ I decide to come home with you tonight, we're not having sex. You have to earn that privilege just like ever other boyfriend I've ever had."

Remy was silent for a moment then said: "You're actually considering coming home with me? Wow, that's way more than I was expecting."

"Well, normally I wouldn't," Rogue replied, sounding pleased. "But graduation is less than a month away, and then I'll be moving back to New York. I think I would like to make the most of the time we have together before we end up in a long distance relationship."

"I'd like that too."

Remy drove them to one of his favourite restaurants, one they had been to a few times for that very reason. After discussing the menu, they decided to order separate, different dishes and share them. Remy ordered two glasses of a red wine he thought would go with both.

"So," Remy said after the waiter departed with their order, "may I ask how things are going with your powers? Any control problems?"

"No, things have been fine," Rogue replied. "I guess it helped that I got used to being able to touch people and not hear my voices so loudly, and of course, Jackie was convinced that I had my powers under control so... Yeah, no problems whatsoever. If anything I'm having a little trouble adjusting to the idea that I can absorb people again. Not that I particularly want to."

"Well, that's good," he said, nodding thoughtfully. "And I am sorry that I hurt you."

"Sorry you hurt me, or sorry you got caught?" Rogue asked.

"Sorry I hurt you," Remy said firmly. "I'm actually relieved I got caught."

"Oh you are, are you?" Rogue said, leaning on the table towards him.

"I hated knowing you were only with me 'cause I was deceiving you," Remy said. "I wanted you to be with me because you _wanted_ to be with me, but I knew if at any stage I ever told you the truth about the Cure, you'd leave me, regardless of where we were at in our, ahem, relationship."

"You don't know that," Rogue said. "I happen to appreciate honesty. Okay, sure, we wouldn't have dated, but we might have become friends."

"Right, you would have become friends with your room mate's father," Remy said dubiously. "One who asked you to make out with him in front of his wife. Ex-wife. Ha! I love saying 'ex-wife'."

Rogue laughed.

"I'm not saying it wouldn't have been awkward," she said. "I'm saying it wouldn't have been outside the realm of possibility."

Remy nodded.

"The first one, the first dose of the Cure, I mean. That was the real thing," he told her. "My last one."

"And you gave it to little ol' me?" Rogue asked, batting her eyes at him.

"I was saving it for a special occasion, or perhaps a special person would be the better way to put it," Remy replied with a shrug.

"You gave me the real thing for Jackie's sake."

"I only told her after...after you found out the truth," Remy said and shook his head. "I never expected I'd end up so attracted to you. If anything that was the worst part about it; you were just being yourself. You never tried to seduce me or win my heart or impress me with...whatever you thought might impress me. You were always just you, and you were beautiful. You are beautiful."

Remy leaned back in his seat and sighed.

"I was the one trying to win your heart. I was the one trying to seduce and impress you," he went on. "I was the one wishing I could be someone else just so I could be good enough for you."

Rogue reached her hand across the table towards him. "Remy—"

"I don't know what you see in me, chère," he said before she could get any further. "I don't know how the hell I got this lucky. I'm not a good person."

"I see a man who is capable of a great deal of love," Rogue said gently. "I see a man who's willing to put everything on the line for the people he cares about. I see a man who puts his all into everything he does. I see a man who enjoys life. And I see a man who thinks he's a selfish person and tries to act that way."

Remy stared at her, but was spared having to reply by the arrival of their drinks.

"Do your X-men friends know?" Remy asked. "About you having control now, I mean."

Rogue nodded, realising Remy just wanted to change the subject.

"They do," she said. "And I gave them an earful about hiding the truth from me all this time. They'd apparently all decided that the best way to deal with it was to put me into situations in training where I might—out of necessity—end up absorbing someone."

"They wanted you to find out you had control on your own," Remy said.

"Yeah, which is kind of what happened in the end," Rogue said ruefully. "Though, not quite in the way that they would have liked."

"I'll bet."

"They're going to be coming down for my graduation ceremony, actually," Rogue went on, fingering the bottom of her wine glass. "We're going to go out for a celebration afterwards. I, umm, I was hoping you would come. I invited Jackie too."

"Sure. I'd love to celebrate with you."

"There's just one thing," Rogue said, looking down at her glass. "See, I told them that I was buying the Cure off the black market, and that I dated my, umm, dealer. They're not stupid; It's safe to say they're going to figure out who you are."

Remy nodded.

"But I'm not going to hide or lie to them any more," Rogue went on determinedly. "And I would much rather we dealt with this now, here in New Orleans where it's safe, than in New York."

"You are aware we're the murder capital, right?" Remy asked.

"Yes, but I imagine that the Assassins are responsible for most of those."

Remy laughed.

"I haven't told them that you and Jackie are related," Rogue went on. "They already know she was my room mate, but I know with her intended career she doesn't want people to know she's connected with the black market. I've left the decision up to her."

"That's fair," Remy replied with a nod. "And very thoughtful of you."

"Thoughtful? Or discreet because I don't want her to kill me for blabbing?" Rogue asked, tilting her head as she looked back at Remy.

"Ha, I know you chère," Remy said smugly. "You're not at all scared that Jackie's going to kill you."

"What makes you say that? She has tried."

"Only because she got scared," Remy replied, considered, "and possibly because Belle has previously expressed concerns that you might not be quite as trustworthy as Jackie would like to think you are. I've no doubt that Jackie's satisfied that she has a friend for life in you, and you know it."

"Bella Donna doesn't think I'm trustworthy, huh?" Rogue asked.

"No, she was worried you might turn out to be a security risk and Jackie would have to kill her friend—someone she cares about," Remy said. "Belle doesn't have many family left and she's very protective about the ones she does have, especially Jackie."

Rogue nodded. "Yeah, Jackie mentioned that Julien died."

Remy paused. "She did?"

"She had to cancel our session to go to his funeral, otherwise I'm sure she wouldn't have mentioned it at all," Rogue said.

Remy was about to ask if Jackie had mentioned how he died, but decided he'd already had the answer; if Jackie had told Rogue about the fight, they'd be having a different conversation.

"Oui, Jackie mentioned you'd been working with her on her powers," Remy said. "How's that going?"

"Pretty good. She still seems to be getting used to the idea that her illusions are real and not really illusions though."

"She told me you managed to get her to volunteer in a soup kitchen."

Rogue giggled. "You should have seen the look on her face."

"It was her favourite complaint for months," Remy said, grinning. "What are you trying to do, Mar- erm, Rogue? Give ma fille a conscience?"

"She already has a conscience," Rogue replied. "Sure it's looking a little wilted, but it's there."

"Just needs a little TLC hein?"

"What Jackie needs are people she can confide in, or one day she's going to lose it," Rogue said. "And I pity anyone who has the misfortune of being anywhere near her the day she has a nervous breakdown."

"You're probably right," Remy said seriously. "I've always tried to be there for her, but, hey, I'm not going to be around forever. We did manage to patch things up though. She, uhh, told me about her rape."

"She did?"

"Yeah, she even told me why she didn't tell me when it happened too."

"I'm glad to hear that," Rogue said. "I really am. The whole thing was tearing her to shreds, but she wouldn't talk to me about it at all."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to stick with her," Remy said. "And I think that it's important that whatever happens with us, that we don't put Jackie in the middle of it."

"Agreed."

"I still can't believe she let me try and get back together with you," Remy said, shaking his head. "I never asked her to let me. For that matter, I never asked her to takeover the Guild either. I mean, I thought that Belle and I could safely divorce if we weren't the leaders any more, but I figured that was going to be years away."

"She loves you," Rogue said. "And I guess that's something important she's managed to get from you—and Bella Donna—the desire to take care of the people she loves."

The conversation was interrupted again by the arrival of their food.

"So, how much do you know about Ed?" Remy asked as he cut up his beef into bite-sized pieces.

"I like to tease Jackie about him being her boyfriend, and occasionally her soulmate, if that's what you're asking," Rogue replied, doing the same with her lamb. "They're just friends who happen to live together, have sex, and enjoy other mutual hobbies, but they're not dating, nuh-uh not them."

Remy chuckled.

"In all seriousness though," Rogue went on, "I probably don't know him much better than you. Jackie likes him a lot, of course, but it's far too early for me to say if anything will come of it. He does know she's a mutant though; she probably told him 'cause they're sharing a bedroom, but there might be something in that."

"At the very least that gives her someone else she can confide in," Remy said.

"We hope," Rogue added. "And as long as it doesn't end badly."

"Yeah."

Conversation then turned to their dinner at hand, when they decided to talk at all. Rogue periodically helped herself to Remy's beef, and Remy occasionally swiped some of Rogue's lamb. They were quite full after the main course, so they didn't bother with dessert, just coffee.

Eventually the time came to depart. The bill was paid and they headed out to Remy's car.

"What would you like to do next?" Remy asked as he held the door open for her. "I couldn't decide between dancing or going out on the motorcycle."

Rogue mulled it over while Remy got into the car.

"Let's just go back to your place," Rogue said. "Dancing and riding are both fun, but I'm just enjoyed talking with you."

Remy nodded at her as she started the car.

"Okay," he said.

He ignored how fast his heart was beating as he drove them back to his home. Just because Rogue wanted to go back to his place did not necessarily mean that she was going to stay the night; after all, if they had gone motorcycle riding, he would have had to take them back to his place then too.

Remy could scarcely believe this was actually happening. While they were broken up and Jackie didn't approve, Remy didn't have to confront the likelihood that Rogue was serious about never wanting to see him again. Then, not only did Jackie give him a chance, but Rogue had actually agreed to take him back. He had been so sure that Rogue would reject him, and yet here they were.

Before long, they arrived. Remy parked, closed up the garage again, and opened up the door to the house. As Rogue stepped into the living room, she stared in surprise at its new look.

"You decided to redecorate?" she asked, her eyes glancing over all the new furniture, carpet and fresh paint.

"Oh, uhh," Remy said awkwardly. "Yeah, it's kind of a long story. I'll tell you about it later."

The look that Rogue gave him told him that she didn't believe there could be anything particular spectacular about a redecorating story, but Remy had no intention of telling her Julien had stabbed him right now. If she did actually stay the night, he didn't want it to be because of some sob story.

"We have time tonight," Rogue said, still looking around as she wandered to the three-seater lounge.

"I've been meaning to do something about the carpet for awhile now and my hand was kind of forced," Remy said, sitting down beside her. "Oh, and just so you know, for the record, I've terminated my arrangements with the brothels I, ahem, used to visit, and with my dom."

"Nice to know," Rogue said with a nod, then blinked and asked: "Wait, you had _arrangements_ with them? What arrangements do you have with a brothel? I thought you just, you know, showed up any time you wanted to...that."

"Well, you could," Remy said. "But I find it's better to book first. And my favourite brothel, the House of the Rising Sun—"

"Wait, that's real? I thought it was just made up for that song," Rogue said.

"I believe they named the place after the song," Remy replied with a grin, leaning back on the arm of the lounge. "Anyway, they have a rewards program."

"A rewards program," Rogue repeated.

"What? They're a business too, have to encourage customer loyalty and all that."

"Does umm, your dom have a rewards program too?"

"Oh I didn't go to her to be rewarded, chère."

Rogue shrugged. "I just thought she might have offered free spankings with every tenth visit or something."

Remy raised an eyebrow. Rogue grinned hopefully at him.

"I'm joking with you," she said. "Not making fun of you."

"I made a joke like that with her once," Remy said, giving her a sly smile. "She gave me something alright, and it wasn't for free."

"A stern talking to?" Rogue suggested.

"I wish."

"Really? You go to a dominatrix and all you want is a stern talking to?" Rogue asked mischievously. "I'd be asking for my money back."

Remy laughed and Rogue winked at him.

"I can give you a stern talking to any time you like," she said coyly.

"Oh yeah? Will you spank me if I don't listen?"

"Mmmaybe."

"Really? You're actually considering it?" Remy asked hopefully. "You're not just teasing me?"

Rogue took her time before answering: "I'm thinking about it. I do like to try new things but... I'm not really in any rush for this one, Remy. It's one thing to hurt someone while sparring or something, something else again to do it deliberately. And should the day arrive when I do...it would have to be above clothes or with an implement. I just... For me skin contact needs to be honest, and I just can't pretend to be mad at you when I'm not. It's bad enough I hurt people when I use my powers on them."

Remy nodded.

"That's perfectly fine, chère," he said. "Aside from the fact that I prefer implements anyway, I'm just happy you're even considering humouring me."

"Remy," Rogue said seriously, taking hold of his hands. "I want to get to know you better. Sometimes that's going to mean I have to step out of my comfort zone. Big deal. Well, as long as you're not asking me to do anything I find morally reprehensible."

"Désolé," Remy said bashfully, looking down.

"I assume, or at least I'd hope to believe, that you would do the same for me," Rogue went on as she tucked her fingers under his chin and made him look at her.

"Of course," he said earnestly.

"Though I have no idea what I would ask you to do that would get you our of your comfort zone," she said, eyeing him thoughtfully.

Remy chuckled. "Sounds like a challenge to me."

Rogue smiled and moved in closer to him and wrapped her arms about his neck.

"That's my Remy," she said, a thrill of delight running through her with the words 'my Remy'. "Everything's a challenge to you."

"I'd rather rise to a challenge and fail, than let life become stagnated," he replied as he slid his hands around her waist as she straddled his lap, and tried to ignore her skirt bunching up to her thighs in the process.

Rogue smiled.

"I love you, Remy LeBeau," she said, and then she kissed him.

It felt so good to say those words, even better to be able to say them without feeling like there was a fifty tonne weight attached to them. Her kiss was not tainted with guilt or shame, instead it was seasoned with joy, peace and a great deal of love. Remy kissed her back with equal fervour. It was the first time in months she had said those words to him, and the kiss that came with them was the sweetest he'd ever tasted.

"Wanna take this up to the bedroom?" Rogue asked when she finally pulled away.

"I thought you wanted to talk," Remy replied, not wanting to sound too eager.

"Oh, I assure you," Rogue said as she stood and pulled Remy up with her, "my tongue won't stop moving."

"Oooh," Remy said as Rogue led him up the stairs. "I like the sound of that."

When they got into the upstairs hallway, Rogue turned around so she was facing Remy and walking backwards. She got busy undoing the buttons on his shirt while kissing him and trusting that he wouldn't let her walk into a wall or something.

Remy guided Rogue into the bedroom with his hands on her waist. He kissed her as she slid his shirt down his arms, and he lifted each arm off her waist one at a time so she could pull his shirt off completely. His shirt dropped to the floor, and only a few seconds later, Remy lowered Rogue down on the bed. Together they shuffled back towards the middle of the bed, Remy half on top of Rogue.

Rogue's hands ran feverishly all over Remy's chest and back, while he supported himself with one hand and kept the other on her waist. He kissed her lips, and then started kissing her neck.

"Umm, Remy?" Rogue said after a few minutes.

"Mmm?"

"Is something wrong?"

Remy lifted his head slightly to look at her. "No, why?"

"Well, normally by now you would have pulled my stockings off," Rogue replied.

"Oh. Désolé," Remy said and went back to kissing her neck.

"Sorry? Whatever for?" Rogue asked, a frown on her face.

"Taking advantage," he mumbled between kisses.

Rogue snorted contemptuously. "I gave you permission, remember?"

"Well, we're sort of starting again. I wasn't sure how far you wanted to go."

"Okay, so now I'm not sure whether to be impressed you're being so thoughtful, or shocked you're not trying to push things," Rogue said dryly.

"Non," Remy said. "I thought I lost you beyond all chance of redemption. Not gonna risk my second chance for a little short term physical pleasure."

"You'd rather hold out for the long term physical pleasure?" Rogue asked mischievously.

"And the rest."

"And so Gambit makes a small sacrifice now in order to gain an advantage later."

Remy lifted his head and caught her eyes, which were gleaming with mischief.

"Rogue, I really want this to work," he said firmly. "And that will require sacrifice on my part."

"I want it to work too," she replied, smiling up at him. "And we'll both need to make sacrifices, not just you."

"Especially me. I was the one—"

Rogue cut him off with a kiss.

"I think we can go just as far as we were before," she said. "Besides, I think it'll be nice to be able to do everything we were doing before without feeling like crap because I'm fooling around with someone else's husband."

"Will it make you feel any better if I tell you I was feeling bitterly jealous of Ryan the whole time you were dating?" Remy asked.

Rogue giggled. "You were?"

"I'm so glad I never met the guy. I'm not sure what I would have done," he said.

"Treated him politely, I'd hope."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't like it," Remy replied with a grin. "Anyway, all this talk of ex's—I love calling Belle my 'ex'—is a mood killer."

"True," Rogue replied, flashing Remy a coy look. "And my legs are starting to think you don't love them any more, keeping them trapped in those mean ol' stockings and making them miss out on all that skin to skin contact you know I love."

Remy sat up and started taking off their shoes.

"Well, we can't have that, can we?" he said.

Their shoes dropped to the floor. Remy slid his hand along her upper leg and underneath the skirt of her dress, ran up lightly along her thigh and found the top of the stocking. He paused when he also felt a strap and a button, and then slid his hand around her legs to find more straps.

"You're wearing a garter belt," Remy said, catching her eyes and seeing them glint with mischief.

"Uh huh."

"This wouldn't happen to be the garter belt I bought you, would it?"

"I only have one."

Rogue grinned at the expression on Remy's face. He swallowed and looked over her again, taking in her appearance.

"Is that push up bra the one I bought you too?" he asked, trying not to seem like he was staring at her cleavage.

"Well, I really can't say," Rogue replied, fluttering her eyes at him. "I just have so many. Do you think if you had a look, you could recognise it even after all this time?"

Remy licked his lips.

"Please don't tease me, chère," he said pitifully. "We both know you have no interest in letting me see you in your underwear, even underwear I bought you."

"Heh," Rogue said with a grin as she slid back off the bed again. "That was before you became a divorcee, Swamp Rat. Besides what I'm wearing tonight covers up more than my bikini ever did."

She stood in front of him, turned her back towards him and reached around for the zipper of her dress. Remy caught his breath as she pulled it down and he caught that first glimpse of the back of her bra. Once the zipper was all the way down, Rogue tugged the dress from her shoulders. With only a little encouragement, the sleeves slid down her arms. The dress fell to her hips, Rogue flicked the clinging material, and it finally dropped to the floor.

Rogue slowly turned around to face him. Remy's eyes raked hungrily across her exquisitely toned body, taking in the black, lacy lingerie with pleasure. Rogue smiled at the enraptured expression on his face.

"So?" she asked.

"Huh?"

Rogue's grin broadened. "Is this the bra you bought me?"

"Uh huh."

"You wearing anything under those pants?" Rogue asked, swaggering towards him.

Remy let out a long, slow breath. "Oh, uhh, boxers."

"You don't sound too sure," Rogue replied, delicately running one finger up his arm. "Maybe you should take them off so I can check."

Remy wasn't even entirely sure this was really happening. The making out was nice. Rogue letting him put his hand up her dress was a bonus. But Rogue standing in his bedroom wearing nothing but sexy black lingerie was one of those little fantasies he'd never expected to ever actually happen. He was so sure he was going to wake up any minute now and discover it was all just a dream.

He slowly stood up and undid the fly of his pants. Rogue walked around and laid back down on the bed on her side, and watched as Remy pulled his pants down and kicked them off, revealing a simple pair of red silk boxers.

Rogue smiled and extended her leg towards him. She rubbed his torso with her toe. Remy closed his eyes and climbed back onto the bed, taking her foot with him. He ran his hands down her leg to the straps holding the stockings on, and undid them. He rolled the stocking off her leg, and kissed her leg as each new inch of skin was exposed. Rogue laid back and closed her eyes as he repeated it with her other leg, thoroughly enjoying the sensation.

Remy tossed the stockings off the side of the bed, then kissed, nipped and licked his way up her leg, over her hip and across her stomach. He bypassed her breasts and then kissed her from collar bone, to neck to lips. Rogue kissed him back eagerly and ran her hands over him, kneading his firm chest and arms. She arched her body into his, yearning for more contact.

Rogue rolled Remy over and straddled him, much to his delight. She kissed, nipped, licked and fondled him down to his stomach. Remy's breathing got harder and he clenched the bed head when Rogue's chest landed on top of his boxers. She had to know what she was doing to him, right? He felt her bra and breasts drag across his skin as she returned, and Rogue was halfway up his torso when she lifted her head to look at him.

"Remy?"

"Oui?" he asked, hoping that she wasn't about to get up and leave when they were only just getting started.

"Do, ahh, do you have any whipped cream?"

Remy met her eyes.

"Umm, no actually," he said regretfully.

"Pity," she replied with a sigh, and went back to kissing her way to his lips.

"Well, it's probably a good thing," Remy said as he closed his eyes. "Last time we did that, I took things too far. I just couldn't say with any certainly that I could resist the temptation."

Rogue smiled down at him. She chewed her bottom lip thoughtfully and finally sat up, still straddling his body.

"I see your point," she said, "and I raise you a 'make it redundant'."

"Wha-" but Remy got no further than that. Rather his jaw dropped while Rogue undid her bra and dropped it off the side of the bed. All he could do was stare, and feel like a teenage boy seeing naked breasts for the first time.

"Well?" Rogue asked. "You just going to lie there and stare, or are you going to do something about it?"

Remy gripped the headboard tighter.

"This is going, umm, further than we did before," Remy said, convinced that if this wasn't a dream, then it was some sort of punishment that Rogue had thought up. There was a catch somewhere, he was sure of it.

"You've touched my boobs before."

"Never with permission."

"Nevertheless, you have touched them," Rogue said, leaning over to tug his hands free of the headboard. "And I think I've had quite enough fantasies about you going to town on my boobs. I want the real thing, especially now that the real thing is also guilt-free."

"Really?" Remy asked, his face brightening as Rogue placed each of his hands over her breasts. "You fantasise about me?"

"Yeah," Rogue said, her eyes glinting with mischief. "And please, let it go to your head."

Remy gave her breasts a squeeze and Rogue half gasped and half moaned at the pressure. Her eyes closed.

"I fantasise about you too, ma chère," he said. "Maybe one day we should do an exchange."

Then Rogue was on her back again while Remy lavished attention on her breasts. He squeezed, nipped, licked, kissed, sucked, and brushed his stubble over her sensitive skin. Rogue lapped up every second of it. She moaned and clutched at the sheets beneath her. Her legs shifted, her hips rocked and her body pulsed with desire and burning.

Feeling Rogue's breathing getting heavier and heavier only served to invigorate Remy. He loved the moaning and the writhing beneath his touch, knowing it meant he was doing a good job in pleasuring her. He wanted her to feel good, better than good. He heard her call his name, and this only encouraged him to go faster and harder. Her body shuddered in response.

Rogue eyes shot open and her body began to relax.

"How the hell did you do that?" she asked.

"Mmm?" Remy murmured in response, still intent on giving her breasts the attention they deserved.

"I just orgasmed."

Remy lifted his head and grinned at the stunned expression on her face. "I'm just that good, chère."

"But I... I don't..." Rogue stammered. "I've had sex like, seven times and only orgasmed twice. I thought achieving orgasm by playing with breasts alone was just a myth!"

Remy chuckled and his fingers ran lazy circles around her nipples.

"Do you think that orgasming more than once in a night is a myth too?" he asked mischievously. "Because, if so, I'm really looking forward to disproving that one. I'm looking forward to disproving it on _multiple_ occasions."

Rogue didn't know whether to be embarrassed at his suggestion or disgusted with his pun.

"I'm guessing," Remy said as he snuggled up to her, "that I've exceeded the expectations of your fantasy?"

"And then some," Rogue replied, quite conscious of Remy's firm manhood pressing into her side.

"Good."

"Remy? Did, ahh, did you want a hand job?"

Remy froze and lifted his head to catch her eyes.

"Is that a general inquiry or an offer?" he asked. "Answer's 'oui' either way."

Rogue grinned at him. "Oh, it's definitely an offer."

Remy rolled onto his back and lifted his lower half so he could pull his boxers off.

"I swear, if you're teasing me, _I_ will spank _you_," he declared.

Rogue giggled softly and then bit her lip when her eyes fell on his endowment. Without hesitation, she wrapped her hand around him, her fingers brushing over his balls in the process. He was quite stiff from their previous activity, and Rogue couldn't imagine him getting much larger (she was already fairly impressed).

Remy watched her breasts jiggle (way better than anything he'd previously imagined) as she stroked him, faster and faster. Her fingernails scraped against his skin. It didn't take long for him to come, and when he did, Rogue smiled, leaned over and kissed him.

"How was that?" she asked.

"Perfect," he replied, completely serious.

"I'm glad you think so."

"I do. Would you mind passing me the tissues?" he asked, gesturing to the box on his bedside table, just out of his reach.

Rogue glanced at the box, then reached over the top of him, and Remy grinned as he appreciated the view of her breasts hanging over him. She grabbed the box and put it down beside him on the bed.

"I might go have a shower now," she said.

"Want me to join you?" Remy asked slyly.

"Ha, tempting," Rogue replied with a slight smirk. "But we've already gone way further than I intended tonight—not that I didn't enjoy myself, I did—and my 'no sex' policy is currently sitting on the window sill with its legs dangling over the side."

Remy laughed at the imagery as he started cleaning up the mess on his stomach.

"And I just... I think it's really important that we wait, Remy," Rogue went on softly. "I'm pretty sure sex with you would be awesome. In fact, I'm convinced of it. I just... I need to make sure that what we have is real and not just lust. I just... I can't have meaningless sex."

"That's fine Roguey," Remy said. "I'm sure it is real, but I'm willing to wait for you as long as you need me to. I'm pretty sure sex with you will be mind blowing too."

Rogue snorted as she got off the bed. "Don't patronise me. We both know I'm inexperienced in this stuff, particularly in comparison to you."

"How else do you think I know it's going to be mind blowing?" Remy asked, grinning at her. "Roguey, you and I love each other for starters, so that makes it awesome right there. And on top of that, you are extraordinary at this touching business. I'm serious about that, chère. No one's ever touched me like you do."

"Well, thanks," Rogue said as she wandered around to the ensuite, and maintained eye contact with him. "Although, I have to say, I am starting to feel the pressure."

"Heh, don't. You'll be fine," Remy said. "Your night clothes are still in the closet where you left them."

"Oh, they are? Good."

"That is... I'm assuming you're going to stay the night?"

Rogue chuckled as she opened the wardrobe doors. "After what we did tonight, Swamp Rat, you can bet your sweet, sweet ass I'm staying."

* * *

><p>When Rogue woke up the next morning, she turned her head and smiled when she saw Remy lying next to her. The sight of his bare back was enough to fill her with excitement: she was in bed with <em>her <em>man, the man she loved, and she didn't have to share him with anyone. He was hers, all hers. With a smile on her face, she shuffled over to him and snuggled up against him. Remy mumbled something, but otherwise didn't respond.

Rogue lovingly ran her hand over his back, or at least the parts of it she wasn't snuggling with. Remy's body was a finely sculptured masterpiece, in her opinion; even the scars he bore were sexy. Rogue frowned slightly as her fingers touch two thin scars on the right side of his back that she didn't remember seeing before.

"Morning," Remy said.

Rogue smiled and kissed the back of his neck.

"Morning, sugar," she said. "And for the record, this is totally the best way to wake up in the morning."

Remy chuckled softly.

"So, umm, if it's not too early in the morning for this," Rogue said, tracing her fingers over the scars again. "Where'd these scars come from?"

"Hmm?"

"Yeah, there's a couple of scars here and here," Rogue said, tracing over them again. "Did, uhh, did your dom give them to you?"

"No, no," Remy replied hurriedly. "No all the potentially scarring stuff my dom did was restricted to my butt so that people didn't question any new injuries or scars."

Rogue giggled. Remy hesitated a moment, and decided there was no real need to keep quiet about it any longer, although this wasn't his ideal setting for this discussion.

"No, actually Julien and I may have gotten into a...little fight."

"Oh?"

"He may have, kinda, ambushed me in my own house and stabbed me in the back."

Rogue sat up and leaned over so she could catch Remy in the eye.

"He _may_ have? Kinda?" she exclaimed. "When the hell did this happen?"

"January."

"Why didn't you tell me!"

Remy rolled onto his back and looked up at her, an expression of mixed horror and hurt on her face. He lifted his hand and caressed her cheek.

"Well, for one thing," he said, "one of the deux major reasons why you broke up with me was because I was manipulating you. How do you think you would have reacted if I called you from hospital saying that my brother-in-law tried to kill me?"

Rogue opened her mouth to reply, then shut it again and grumbled. Remy grinned and kissed her nose.

"I was going to tell you, I promise," he said. "I realise this is something you would like to know, I was just waiting for the right moment."

"Last night wasn't the right moment?" Rogue asked, still looking put out despite the fact that she had to concede she wouldn't have believed him if he'd called her from hospital.

"Non," Remy said firmly. "I didn't want some stupid sob story influencing your decision to stay the night with me, and quite frankly after the fun we had last night, I'm glad I didn't."

Rogue sighed and snuggled up to him again, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Fine," she said. "I reluctantly take the point. Are you okay? Seriously?"

"Punctured lung was the worst of it," Remy said. "I'm more-or-less recovered now, except I'm not allowed to go scuba diving ever again."

"Bummer."

"Yeah."

"Wait..." Rogue said with a slight frown. "Julien died."

"Oui, he did," Remy replied gravely.

"Did you..." Rogue trailed off, not sure if she wanted the answer to that question.

Remy was silent for a moment. He wasn't going to tell her about the execution; that was Guild business only.

"He'd been plotting to kill me for a long time, chère, and he was a damned good fighter," Remy said finally. "We both ended up in hospital, but his injuries were...much more extensive than mine."

Rogue's fingers drifted over his bare chest.

"There's more to this story than what you're telling me," she said finally, and then added before he could respond: "And I suspect it's probably Guild related, so you probably feel you shouldn't tell me, and I'm probably happier not knowing."

Remy chuckled softly and kissed her forehead.

"You're right," he said. "And you have doubts about whether it's love or lust between us."

"I don't doubt that fact that I love you at all," Rogue said firmly. "It's the...strength of our relationship I have doubts about."

"Because I manipulated you?" Remy asked quietly.

Rogue sighed. "I'd be lying if I said that wasn't a big part of it."

"To be honest, chère, I'm amazed this is even happening. I didn't think you'd ever forgive me."

"Yeah, well, I'm in a bit of a weird situation with that," Rogue replied wryly. "As it turned out, everyone I cared about knew the Cure was a fake—or at least they knew it had worn off years ago—and they all hid that information from me. Oh sure, my X-men friends all believed they were doing me a favour; they wanted to do the right thing by me and make sure that I got control in the end, but... "

"But they still didn't tell you."

"Yeah." Rogue sighed. "I'm not exactly innocent either. I hid things from them too. I just... I guess the way I see things right now, I either forgive everyone or I don't forgive anyone."

"But there's a big difference between them and me," Remy said seriously. "They wanted to help you. I was just looking out for myself."

"You know the other big difference?" Rogue said.

"There's another one?" Remy said skeptically.

"Sure there is. You both manipulated me; but they believed that they were doing the right thing. You knew you weren't."

"Doesn't that just make what I did worse?" Remy asked with a frown.

"Are you telling me the ends justify the means?" Rogue replied. "My closest friends deliberately deceived me, and that hurts regardless of intent. Worse, if their plan had succeeded the way they wanted it to, they may have even expected me to be grateful. And it's not that I don't appreciate that they wanted to help, I just..."

"There had to be a more honest way to go about it?"

"Yeah," Rogue said and sighed once more. "Do you know what 'Marie' means?"

"Non."

"Bitter; which is exactly what I'm going to become if I don't let go of this," Rogue said. "Well, I'm not going to be bitter."

"Not going to be Marie either."

"Ha yeah. I'm going to put all of this behind me, and that includes forgiving you," Rogue said, sitting up on one elbow to smile at him. "And since you're no longer married, and I still love you, I see no reason why we can't be together."

Remy smiled back at her and brushed some of her hair out of her face.

"Neither can I," he said.


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

"Marie D'Ancanto."

Kitty, Bobby, Jubilee and Logan erupted in loud cheers and yells while Piotr and Storm clapped beside them and Rogue stepped onto the platform below. She accepted her diploma with a handshake and walked with a great big grin on her face to the other side of the stage, where she posed just briefly for a photo before stepping down again.

Elsewhere in the audience, Remy gave Jackie a nudge.

"I'd say we just found Rogue's friends," he said.

Jackie chuckled and glanced over at the six people in question. "Yeah, I'd say so."

The remainder of the graduation ceremony seemed to drag once Rogue had been and gone. Remy laid his eyes on Ryan for the first time when he got up to receive his diploma along with the other students graduating Magna Cum Laude. Jackie took great pleasure in pointing out Remy's former competition to him. Remy found that although he had previously been jealous of the young man, that jealousy had gone now that he and Rogue were truly together. Still, he was glad that he wouldn't have to actually meet Ryan face to face.

Eventually the ceremony came to an end, and the crowd disbursed. Remy and Jackie took his car out to the restaurant where they had arranged to meet up with Rogue and the X-men.

"So," Remy said as they drove. "Have you decided if you're going to be my daughter today?"

"Well as it turns out, Marie—Rogue—doesn't think she ever told them about my future plans," Jackie replied, "so if anyone asks, I'll just tell 'em I work for a finance company."

"Which just happens to be true."

"Exactly," Jackie said cheerfully. "And the added benefit to that is I don't have to worry about hiding my eyes from these guys."

"Win-win."

"Yep. Man, I am really looking forward to this. I don't know which part I'm looking forward to the most; finally meeting her friends, or watching you try to charm them," Jackie said, grinning mischievously at Remy.

Remy grinned back. "Oui, it's certainly going to be an interesting day."

Jackie chuckled wickedly.

Remy and Jackie were the first ones at the restaurant, although they had expected that. They waited in the car for awhile before finally moving to the lobby inside where there were lounges available. Finally, Rogue appeared through the sliding doors with the X-men close behind. She smiled as soon as she saw them, and they stood up to join her.

"Umm, everyone," Rogue said. "I'd like to introduce y'all to my friends. Jackie, Remy, this is Storm..."

The always elegant Storm gave the two a nod and noted a flicker of recognition in Remy's eye.

"Logan."

Logan only glanced over Jackie before his eyes landed on Remy, who met his gaze steadily.

"Jubilee."

"Hi!" Jubilee said.

"Kitty."

"Greetings."

"Piotr."

"Pete will be fine."

"And Bobby."

"Ice to meet you," Bobby said cheerfully.

"Bobby," Rogue said, shaking her head at him. "This is Jackie, my room mate from before, who I was telling y'all about."

Jackie pulled down her sunglasses so they could all see her black and red eyes, and was rather impressed with how well they took the surprise—very little reaction at all. "Bonjour."

"And this," Rogue said, taking Remy's hand in hers and meeting the eyes of each of her friends in turn, "is my boyfriend, Remy."

"Bonjour, mes amis," said Remy his eyes not leaving Logan's.

"Your boyfriend?" Kitty said, looking between Rogue and Remy. "This is the first we've heard about him?"

"No, I told you about him, sort of," Rogue replied, trying not to sound nervous. "We kinda broke up for awhile last year and we just got back together a few weeks ago."

"Is this the snake oil salesman?" Kitty asked and her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Jackie burst out laughing, which was good, because her laughter covered up the 'snikt' of Logan's claws as they extended.

"Logan," Storm said with her usual calm. "We're in a public place."

"I've been looking forward to meeting you, bub," Logan said, stepping almost right into Remy's face.

"Then it seems to me that you're about...twenty-two years too late, mon ami," Remy replied, then gave Rogue a nudge. "How come you never told me that your friend Logan was Wolverine?"

"It never came up?" Rogue suggested in reply.

"Would that have made a difference?" Logan asked, his voice almost a growl.

"Of course it would have," Remy replied magnanimously. "Why we could have caught up years ago."

"I don't know you."

"That memory loss turned out to be permanent, hein?" Remy asked. "Don't worry, I'm not offended that you don't remember me. I mean, it was twenty-two years ago, and I know how much you hate flying, so I really can't blame you for blocking out the memory of flying in my baby—"

"You took Logan out in your baby?" Rogue asked, looking up at Remy.

"Oui, I was about your age when this guy tracked me down for the sole purpose of hiring me to help him out bring down one of Stryker's bases," Remy said, keeping eye contact with Logan.

It was more 'coerce' than 'hire', but Remy felt that would get in the way of a good story.

"He was the guy who gave you those claws, was he not?" Remy went on, then glanced at the base of Logan's throat. "Not wearing your dog tags any more?"

Logan growled.

"Logan, please," Rogue said tersely.

Logan's claws retracted with a 'snakt', and he looked at Rogue.

"What the hell are you doing with this guy?" he demanded.

"I thought he was married," Kitty added, looking at Remy pointedly.

"Freshly divorced, actually," Remy replied, sighed happily and looked at Jackie. "It feels so good to say that."

"Well, that explains why you've said it repeatedly ever since," Jackie said with a grin.

"I only waited twenty years to get it."

"I don't care when you got it," Kitty said furiously, pointing her finger at Remy. "You do not get to date Rogue."

"Kitty—" Rogue began.

"He used you!"

"Hey, everyone here," Rogue said, gesturing to the group with her finger, "hid the truth about the Cure from me. _Everyone_. I can't just forgive some of you and not others when you're all guilty of the same thing. And I'm not trying to play the innocent victim here; I wasn't honest with everyone either."

"We're not all guilty of the same thing at all. We were trying to help you," Kitty said, and extended her hand, still pointing accusingly at Remy. "He was just trying to help himself."

"It is the same thing, and I know what he was trying to do," Rogue replied simply. "But I love him, and y'all are just gonna have to deal with that. Now, if you don't mind, this is my graduation day, and I want to spend it celebrating with my nearest and dearest, not arguing."

"Ahem," piped up a new voice then, belonging to the restaurant's hostess who had all-so-quietly joined the group. "May I help you?"

"Yes, I have a reservation for D'Ancanto," Rogue said.

"Ahh, we have been expecting you," said the hostess. "If everyone's here, I can show you to your table."

"Everyone's here, thank you."

With her hand firmly planted in Remy's, Rogue followed the hostess as she guided them to the reserved table. Everyone else walked behind, not one of the X-men happy about Rogue's new boyfriend.

It was a very uptight group of people that sat down at the reserved table. Rogue sat at the head of the table with Logan on one side and Remy on the other. Next to Remy was Storm, then Kitty and Jubilee. On the other side of Logan was Bobby, Jackie and Piotr. The hostess assured them that a waiter would be with them shortly to take their order, and departed.

"Remy," Storm said, breaking the tense silence before it could begin and winning an apprehensive look from Rogue, which she ignored. "I don't suppose you remember me?"

"You've met?" Logan questioned.

"Of course, I remember you, chère," Remy said. "I never forget a belle femme. You came with Professor Xavier when he tried to recruit me all those years ago."

"Chuck tried to recruit him?" Logan demanded while Bobby, Kitty, Jubilee and Piotr all looked at each other, then eyed Remy off like they couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"Naturally," Storm replied calmly. "The Professor was diligent in locating mutants, and there was never one he wouldn't offer a home."

"I declined because of family commitments," Remy said. "I was a little old for a high school by then anyway."

"You're never too old to learn, though."

"Touché."

"Besides Logan," Storm said, picking up her menu, "Remy is hardly the only thief that the Professor ever offered a home to."

Remy snapped his fingers. "That's right, you told me you used to be a pickpocket in Cairo."

"You have a very good memory," Storm said, granting him a smile.

"You used to be a pickpocket?" Bobby asked.

"I knew that," Jubilee said, almost smugly. "She told me the day I got caught shop lifting, before I came here."

"There's a difference between stealing to survive and trying to program someone into becoming your own personal sex slave," Kitty said fiercely.

"Eww, that's disgusting," Jackie said the same time Remy looked at Rogue and said: "So that's where you got that idea from."

"I agree," Kitty said, first looking at Jackie, and then glaring at Remy. "It is disgusting."

"Non, you don't understand," Jackie said before Rogue could say anything. "That's mon père you're talking about."

"Huh?" Kitty asked the same time Logan (who knew French) looked at Jackie, frowned and said: "He's your father?"

"Oui."

"You're dating your room mate's _father_?" Kitty exclaimed, staring at Rogue.

"Heh," Bobby said with a chuckle, unable to help himself. "Good thing she never met _your_ dad."

"Bobby!"

Jackie laughed and nudged Bobby. "Hey good one."

"They got divorced a few years ago too," Bobby went on with a nod. "Hey, does this make Rogue a father fuc-"

"Bobby!" Rogue exclaimed.

"What?" Bobby asked, grinning at her. "I'm just asking."

"This is not the time to make jokes," Kitty said, then looked back at Rogue. "He's already used you once. He'll do it again."

Rogue nodded. "By that logic, Kitty, then I can't trust you with any of my secrets ever again."

"I... That's not the same thing!" Kitty spluttered.

"I said that I would tell everyone when _I_ was ready, and you chose to disrespect my request," Rogue said. "If you want me to give you a second chance, then you have to accept that I'm also giving Remy a second chance."

"If you want to be technical," Logan said without so much as a smirk, "Kitty promised she wouldn't say a word, and she didn't. She wrote it all down instead."

Kitty had the grace to look bashful while Rogue threw her a cynical look. Remy burst out laughing.

"Désolé ma chère," he said to Rogue, then grinned at Kitty. "But I approve."

"Ugh," Kitty grumbled. "Now I _know_ I did the wrong thing."

Rogue giggled despite herself.

"I get that you're concerned, sugar. I probably would be too, if I was in your position," Rogue said, then smiled fondly at Remy, "but I've fallen in love."

Jackie made gagging noises and Jubilee smothered giggles.

"And I need to see where this goes," Rogue went on, ignoring them.

"You're not in love, and whatever it is you're feeling, you'll get over it," Kitty said.

"I've already tried," Rogue said. "There just isn't a convenient off switch."

"There never is," Storm said as Rogue took Remy's hand under the table. "Now, might I suggest that we decide what we want before the waiter turns up to take our order?"

As if Storm's words were a cue for action, the waiter appeared. Not everyone had decided on a meal yet, but they all ordered drinks; a couple of jugs of different varieties for the table to share, a beer for Logan and wine for Remy and Jackie. While they waited for their drinks to arrive, the group decided on their mains.

"So, Gumbo," Logan said, looking at Remy when the waiter departed with their order after leaving their drinks. "You got many customers for your so-called 'Cure'?"

"A few," Remy replied without batting an eye. "Some regular, some not."

"Just what are you injecting them with?" asked Bobby.

"Vitamins," Remy said as he reached into his trench coat pocket.

"Seriously?" asked Jubilee. "Cliché much?"

"I don't get repeat business if they're dead," Remy said calmly, and pulled out a vial which he put in front of Storm. "Give this to whoever it is that does the analysis on this stuff for you. That's what I was giving Rogue; you can verify for yourselves it's just vitamins."

"And how do we know that's actually what you give your victims, and not something you prepared just for today?" Logan asked.

"You don't," Remy replied simply.

The two men locked eyes and Logan hated that he couldn't figure out if Remy was on the level or not. He didn't know Remy well enough to tell if the sweat rate, pheromones released and heart rate was normal for him, or if he was nervous, let alone if he was lying.

"Thank you for the courtesy, Remy," Storm said, cutting into their macho stare-off.

"You're welcome, chère."

"How much have you been charging for it?" Bobby asked.

Remy raised his eyebrow and gave them the figure. A mix of shocked gasps and horrified exclamations from the group followed. Jackie just snickered.

"Okay, _maybe_ if it was the real thing, I might be okay with that," Kitty said. "But—according to you—this is just vitamins. How the hell?"

"Ahh, but I'm not selling them a drug," Remy said, tapping his nose. "I'm selling them the illusion that by taking it, they become powerless. The price tag is part of that illusion; it's common knowledge that the stuff isn't made any more, although there are, of course, conspiracy theories that it's still being made underground. The point is, anyone with a grain of intelligence would expect a hefty price tag to go with something that's rare. If I sell it for cheap, they'll doubt what they're getting."

"And rightfully so," Kitty said.

"I just don't sell it to anyone with truly uncontrollable mutations," Remy said. "Actually, that's the easy part. Selling it to people who have still-developing powers is when it gets tricky. Usually end up telling them they must have built up an immunity or that the Cure has a shelf life. I give the latter a refund."

Jackie stared at Remy in utter shock. "You do _what_ now?"

"Giving a refund when I've just given them an injection and it obviously hasn't worked is only smart business practice, Sunshine," Remy said. "You don't go back to someone you think has ripped you off."

"Rogue?" Kitty said, raising an eyebrow at her friend. "Nothing to say here?"

"I was a repeat customer and he kept me powerless for years," Rogue replied with a shrug. "I'd say he knows what he's doing."

"Never occurred to you to help them get their powers under control?" Bobby asked Remy.

"What do I look like? A guidance counsellor?" Remy asked. "I suggested to some of them that they might want to look into the mutant schools."

"After the Cure failed to work on them, of course," Kitty said snidely.

"Of course," Remy replied without batting an eye.

Logan frowned and looked at Storm. "We've got a lot of kids who took the Cure."

Storm nodded. "Yes and I seem to recall a couple of them mentioned they bought it off the black market and were told they built up immunity when it stopped working. The kids seemed physically fine, so we never actually got around to looking into it."

"Remy?" Rogue inquired.

"I may have recommended Xaviers and the Massachusetts Academy," Remy replied, and was spared further questions when a couple of waiters arrived with their food.

Conversation moved to more confined groups while they ate. Logan and Storm continued to appraise Remy in their own ways while Rogue was just feeling relieved she wasn't playing referee as much as she thought she would have to. Bobby was attempting to listen in when Jackie sought his attention.

"So, Bobby," she said. "You do the ice thing, right?"

"Yep," Bobby replied proudly.

"Awesome. Wanna screw?"

Bobby blinked at her. "I... What?"

"Wanna screw? Have sex? Get laid? Roll in the hay?" Jackie replied, amused at the shocked expression on Bobby's face. "Do the horizontal mamba?"

"I, uhh, I have a girlfriend," Bobby said.

Jackie shrugged. "That's okay, she can join us. Does she have mutant powers too?"

"Uhh no—"

"Pity. I haven't gotten the chance to screw around with many mutants," Jackie said, eyeing Bobby up and down. "And you look like you even have the stamina to keep up with me."

"Your dad is right there!" Bobby exclaimed, gesturing towards Remy.

Jackie smirked at him and then looked at Remy.

"Hey, Papa," she called.

"Oui, Sunshine?" Remy replied, turning away from his conversation briefly to address her.

"Sex and ice."

"Oooh kinky."

Rogue giggled at the mixed reaction of the on-lookers, especially Bobby's, who was sporting a freaked out and embarrassed expression.

"See that's what I think too," Jackie said with a nod, then gestured to Bobby with her fork. "And Bobby over here turns into ice."

Remy nodded. "Okay, but make sure he's clean, and be doubly careful with the protection. If he can turn into ice, then he can probably melt, and who knows what he might pass on if he melts inside you."

Jubilee started giggling.

"Hmm," Jackie considered as Bobby's face went bright red. "Good point. I didn't think of that."

"Oh, and be careful of frostbite," Remy added.

"I will," Jackie said, then looked back at Bobby and waggled her eyebrows. "So?"

"No!" Bobby said.

"Aww, why not?" Jackie asked, giving him puppy-dog eyes.

"I'm not going to cheat on Opal, and I'm especially not going to cheat on her with someone I hardly know," Bobby said.

"I said she could join us..."

"So not going there."

"What's so funny?" Kitty asked Jubilee, who was still giggling.

"If he melts inside you," was all Jubilee could reply with.

"Aww shut up," Bobby said, looking down quite intently at his food.

Jackie grinned at Jubilee, then nudged Piotr.

"So, what about you, tall, dark and handsome?" Jackie asked.

Piotr froze in the middle of taking a bite of food to his mouth.

"What's your mutant power?" she asked when she got no other response.

"I turn into steel," Piotr replied.

"Interesting," Jackie said thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not sure how that would spice up the sex life, but I'm willing to experiment. Wanna get creative with me?"

Piotr stammered something, and then rattled something off in Russian, sounding rather flustered. Jackie blinked and then looked at Remy.

"Hey, Papa, you speak any Russian?" she asked.

"Non."

"He said he wasn't interested," Kitty said, giving Jackie a bland look, and deciding that it wasn't happenstance that Jackie ended up sitting between Bobby and Piotr.

Jackie sighed, then looked towards Logan.

"So Logan—"

"No," Logan said without even bothering to look at her.

"Are you sure?" Jackie asked. "I'm very, very good at making things...explode."

Remy burst out laughing.

"Mon dieu," Remy said. "Do you say that often?"

"It's my favourite pick up line," Jackie replied, grinning.

"That's all you have to say?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow at Remy. "Your daughter has just been propositioning every man at this table, other than yourself, and all you do is comment on her pick up lines?"

Remy shrugged. "She's an adult. She can proposition anyone she wants. All I ask is that she take proper precautions; I wouldn't want her to catch anything incurable."

"So, Rogue," Jackie said. "How come you didn't invite any friends who were into casual sex?"

As she was busy chewing at that moment, Rogue was saved having to reply.

"What about Warren?" Jackie went on. "I've heard tell he gets around."

Rogue swallowed. "I am not introducing you to Warren."

"Why?"

"Because you'll probably try and rob him."

Jackie made a rude noise.

"I don't need to meet the guy to rob him," she said. "Heck, Papa robbed his père and he didn't know him."

"Not the point," Rogue said while Remy snickered.

"Aww come on, Rogue, the man has wings," Jackie said. "I wanna see if I can join the mile high club without needing a plane."

"Of course you do," Rogue replied dryly. "Look, sugar, I invited you here so you could celebrate my graduation with me and meet my friends, not crack onto them."

"Hey, I did tell you that if I ever met Bobby I was going to pounce on him," Jackie said. "Granted, there's very little room for a decent pouncing, but still..."

"Why?" Bobby asked.

"Just 'cause of your mutation, sugar," Rogue said. "Nothing else."

"I like some variety in my sex life," Jackie said cheerfully.

Rogue shook her head and looked at Remy. "She's your daughter."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Just an observation," Rogue said and gestured to his plate with her fork. "How's your chicken?"

"Good," Remy replied and gave her a sly smile. "Want a taste?"

"Sure."

Before Rogue could swipe a piece, however, Remy captured her face in his hands and kissed her. Logan glared and growled.

"Hmm," Rogue said, licking her lips when they broke off, and finally stabbed a piece of Remy's chicken with her fork. "Should have seen that one coming."

"You mean you didn't?" Remy asked."I'm shocked, Roguey, shocked."

"Hey, people are trying to eat here," Jackie said. "Stop being all cute and lovey-dovey. It's sickening."

"I'm sorry," said Rogue as Remy looked down at his plate. "I thought you said that if me being with Remy would make me happy you'd find a way to get over it."

"Oh what, by over-exposing me to your little love-fest so I get desensitised?"

"Whatever works."

"Ugh, this is what I get for playing poker with Papa," Jackie grumbled, stabbing at her own food.

Remy laughed. Rogue looked between them, confused.

"What's this?" Rogue asked.

"After you and Papa broke up, Papa told me he wasn't going to pursue you 'cause he didn't want to put me in the pot again," Jackie said. "He also said that, since he was still married at the time, and he had exploited you, that trying to win you back would be like trying to win a game of poker with a two and a seven."

"Which is the worst opening hand in Texas Hold 'em," Rogue said with a nod, then gave Remy an amused look. "Trust you to compare our situation to poker."

Remy gave a shrug.

"Anyway, Papa looked so miserable without you," Jackie went on, "that I decided what the hey? If he's got a seven and a two, then I must have deux aces."

"Did I ever tell you what the nicknames are for those hands?" Remy asked.

"No," Jackie replied.

"Deux aces gets called 'American Airlines', 'pocket rockets' or 'bullets'," Remy said, then winked at Rogue. "And a two and a seven is 'The Hammer'."

Rogue laughed. Jackie looked at them like they were weird.

"I'm getting the impression I'm missing something," she said, then muttered under her breath: "Great, now they have inside jokes."

"Sunshine—" Remy began.

"It's fine, Papa, really," Jackie said. "Bitching is my way of dealing with it."

"You play a lot of poker?" Logan asked Remy.

"Oui," Remy replied. "Care to join me sometime?"

"That's really not a good idea," Rogue said to Logan as she pointed her thumb at Remy. "He's good."

"So am I," Logan replied with a shrug, and Remy's eyes glinted in anticipation of the challenge.

"No, I mean he's _good_," Rogue insisted. "When we went to Vegas—"

"You went to Vegas?" said about three or four of the X-men at once.

"—he ditched me to play poker. He not only ditched me to play poker, but he played against world champions," Rogue went on, "and won."

"It was a good weekend," Remy said.

"Big deal," said Logan. "I've been playing poker before Cajun over here was even born."

Remy grinned at Logan.

"Oh yeah?" Remy asked. "How can you know that, mon ami? You lost your memory twenty-two years ago."

"Yep," Logan replied. "I've been playing so long, I don't even remember learning _how_ to play."

Remy laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever," Jubilee said, gaping at Rogue. "You went to Vegas?"

"Oh, umm, yeah," Rogue said awkwardly.

"Why did you not tell me!" Jubilee exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "You have got a lot of talking to do, missy. I wanna know everything you guys have been doing together. Everything."

Rogue giggled at the indignant expression on Jubilee's face.

"Well, in addition to Vegas, we also went camping, scuba diving, water skiing, jet skiing, sky diving, dirt biking, and hot air ballooning," Rogue said.

"Aww, that all sounds like fun," Jubilee said. "Also, I'm going to grill you for details later."

"Well, that'll sure teach me to keep you out of the loop again," Rogue replied with a slight smile.

"Exactly! I mean, if you can't celebrate having a sugar daddy with me, who can you celebrate with?" Jubilee asked, grinning broadly at Rogue.

"A what?" Rogue asked, her eyes going wide in shock as Remy covered his mouth to hide his laughter.

"He got you a car," Jubilee said, "he took you to Vegas. I'm sure that once I've done giving you the third degree about the last few years I'll find other expensive things."

"I've been telling Rogue she needs to con more things from him," Jackie said with a nod. "There was talk about a condo..."

"Oh hell, that was a joke!" Rogue exclaimed.

"Sure, _now_ you say it was a joke," Jackie teased her. "But that's the real reason you got back together with Papa, isn't it? You just want to exploit more goodies from him."

Rogue buried her face in her hands. Remy chuckled and squeezed her knee under the table.

"You're so cute when you're embarrassed," he said.

"Shut up."

"So would now be a bad time to mention that had things gone to plan—which I'm glad they didn't—I'd be taking you to France this summer?" Remy asked.

"Aww," Jubilee said. "That's so romantic."

"I think that was the idea, Jubes," said Kitty.

"Actually seeing the Eiffel Tower is on Marie's bucket list," said Jackie.

Everyone looked at Rogue.

"You have a bucket list?" Bobby asked.

"Uhh," Rogue said awkwardly, avoiding Remy's curious gaze. "I was going to tell you guys about it eventually, probably after graduation. I may have sorta kinda came up with my, umm, 'bucket list' to distract Remy from taking me out on romantic dates all the time. I mean, Remy just wanted to take me out on dates, he never actually specified what we should do while we were on them, so I figured we should be doing more friend-like things together."

"So you manipulated me," Remy said, looking highly amused.

"I'm impressed you didn't catch on," Jackie said. "Nice job Marie—Rogue."

"Yeah, well, ahem, like I said, I'm not exactly an innocent victim here," Rogue said ruefully. "And the plan kind of bit me in the butt, seeing as how I ended up falling for you anyway."

Remy shrugged. "We had fun. I'm not complaining. In fact, and I didn't think it was possible, but I think I just fell that little be more in love with you."

"Ugh," said Jackie. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"You think you're going to be sick?" said Kitty. "The guy said he fell more in love with her 'cause she manipulated him. _That's_ sick."

"Not about the manipulation, chérie," Remy said, turning his head to look past Storm at Kitty. "It's about the rise to the challenge, and the refusal to let anything get her down. That's a pretty admirable trait."

"Ha," Rogue said. "If I was really that admirable, I would have faced up to the fact that my powers had come back in the first place, instead of trying to run away and bury my problems."

"And you also learn from your mistakes," Remy went on with a grin. "Another admirable trait."

"Oooh, I wanna play," said Jackie. "You also put up with Papa, that's a really admirable trait."

Rogue laughed and Remy pulled a face at Jackie. Jackie grinned at him.

"I mock because I love," she said.

"Really?" asked Remy. "I mock because I like to be a pain in the ass."

"That's why being able to put up with you is an admirable trait."

"I could teach masters in patience," Remy said with a wicked grin as he picked up his glass of wine. "So Stormy, what's it like being at a school?"

Storm chose to ignore the unwanted nickname.

"Busy," she said. "We have a lot of students to take care of, many of whom have nowhere else to go."

"I imagine it gets awkward trying to look after them and do X-men stuff," Remy said.

"It can. Fortunately, our X-men roster and our teaching staff have been increasing in proportion with our student body," Storm replied.

"Bon," Remy said. "Does it get messy with all those mutations running around?"

"It certainly gets very interesting," Storm said, gathering another mouthful of food. "We've developed quite an extensive range of tools and equipment for helping them use and control their abilities, and it seems to keep growing."

"Ahh, oui, Rogue mentioned something called a 'danger room'," said Remy with a nod. "I have to say, I was much intrigued by the idea of an obstacle course with a difficulty setting."

Rogue coughed uncomfortably as some of the X-men looked at her. Jackie got the impression that this 'danger room' wasn't something she should have mentioned.

"I'd be delighted to show you some time, Gumbo," Logan said with a completely straight face before Storm could reply. "In fact, you can even do a few laps."

"Uhh, Logan," Rogue started to say.

"I may just take you up on that," Remy replied. "And I guess that answers my next question."

"Which question was that?" Storm asked.

"Whether I'd be welcome at your school," Remy said mildly. "My work schedule is flexible, and I was thinking about going to New York on the occasional weekend to see Rogue."

"I'd like that," Rogue said, smiling at him.

"I just wasn't sure if you'd appreciate me showing my devilishly handsome face at your school," Remy went on, giving Rogue's hand a squeeze.

"Of course," Storm said, noting the mixed reaction from the X-men at her invitation. "You're even welcome to stay with us for those weekends."

"He is?" Bobby asked.

"Naturally," Storm continued, looking Remy in the eye, "I expect you to leave the thief outside of the property line."

Remy grinned at her. "I think I can manage that."

They continued to make idle (and not-so-idle) chatter while and after they ate. Long after the plates for their mains had been collected, cake and champagne came out.

"A toast," said Storm, holding her glass in the air. "To Rogue, for things long overdue. Congratulations on your graduation, and more importantly, on having your powers under control. We are all very happy for you."

Rogue smiled her gratitude as everyone lifted their glasses.

"To Rogue!"

Afterwards, out the front of the restaurant, they parted ways. While Rogue hugged her friends good bye, Jackie stood in front of Bobby and made a deliberate point of running her eyes over him.

"So if you ever change your mind," she said, "Marie has my number."

"What?" Kitty asked before Bobby could get a word in, "you're not just going to give him your number directly?"

"Nah," Jackie said and gestured to Bobby's head. "Just look at the face he's giving me. He'll probably screw it up and throw it away and who knows who might pick it up. But seriously, if this Opal chick changes her mind about a threesome, or you break up and want some rebound sex or something, call me, Really."

"I'll uhh, keep that in mind?" Bobby replied, hoping he was saying the right thing to make her drop the subject.

"Bon."

"Thank you so much, Storm," Rogue said, giving her a hug.

"For what?" Storm replied

"For giving Remy a chance," Rogue said, glancing over at Remy and Logan who were engaged in their little staring contest again. "I know finding out we were dating can't be something that you were happy about."

"I will admit I am apprehensive you're going to get hurt again," Storm said, looking Rogue in the eye. "But you have every reason to throw him to the curb, and yet you still chose to take him back. I am sure you would not do that unless you could see some worth in him."

Rogue smiled. "I do."

"Then I hope I see it too," Storm said. "I'll see you in a few days. Have a good trip."

"I will, you too."

"I was thinking," Remy said, his eyes never leaving Logan's, "of giving Rogue a chance to settle in before I came up to see her. How does August sound?"

"Early August," replied Logan, who was really looking forward to getting Remy in the danger room. "Before all the kids who went home for the summer start coming back."

"Well, as long as you don't think I'd be in the way of your preparations..."

"Not at all."

"I'll be sure to call in then."

"You do that."

Kitty held Rogue's hands in hers and nodded her head towards Remy. "Are you sure about him, honey?"

"I'm sure," Rogue assured her. "Come on, you don't really think, after everything that's happened, that I'd actually take him back if I didn't love him? I could have just left it at forgiveness, you know."

"To be honest, I'm surprised you gave him that much," Kitty replied, then nodded. "Okay, well, I guess I owe you to give him a chance, so...so I will."

"Thank you, sugar," Rogue said, squeezing her hands. "You don't know what that means to me."

"I'm not so sure about Jackie though," Kitty went on with a sideways glance towards where Jackie was flirting with a very awkward-looking Piotr.

Rogue laughed. "Yeah, Jackie takes some getting used to. She has some weird ideas sometimes."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Kitty asked, letting go of Rogue's hands.

"Well she thinks that just because her parents had a lousy marriage, that all marriage is a waste of time and effort and should be outlawed," Rogue said with an amused smile.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. So, if she comes across as a slut, it's because, ahem, 'dating is for the weak'."

"Oookay."

Rogue said her final goodbyes to Piotr, Jubilee, Bobby and Logan, and finally everyone departed. As the X-men walked away, the younger ones began conversing on how Remy was the weirdest father they'd ever met, and how Jackie had been hitting on all the boys.

"I am so telling Opal about this," Jubilee said gleefully.

"Aww man," Bobby said. "Do you have to?"

"What?" Jubilee asked. "You turned her down. That's nothing to be ashamed of."

Storm noticed Logan's thoughtful silence and walked beside him.

"Logan?" she prodded softly.

"I don't like that guy," Logan said irritably. "He exploited Rogue, he's too damn charismatic for his own good and he doesn't tell you everything."

"And?"

"And he is, without a doubt in my mind, in love with Rogue," Logan finished with an annoyed sigh. "And she with him."

"I picked up on that up too," Storm said gently.

"I thought she had better taste," Logan grumbled.

"You will give him a chance, won't you?" Storm asked. "For Rogue's sake."

"Oh," Logan said dangerously, "I'm going to give him a chance, alright."

"Try not to do any permanent damage."

* * *

><p>Remy pulled up outside Jackie's apartment building, and she climbed over the door to get out.<p>

"Thanks for the lift, Papa," she said. "And Rogue, if I don't see you again before you leave, have a good trip home."

"I will," Rogue said and hugged Jackie as she leaned over the door to do just that. "Don't be shy, okay?"

"I won't," Jackie replied, straightening up again.

"See you Monday, Sunshine," Remy said.

"See ya!"

Jackie waved to them, then took off inside as Remy and Rogue drove away.

"Well, that was certainly interesting," Remy said.

"It was," Rogue said with a nod. "Although personally, right now I'm just relieved that there wasn't any real fighting."

"I have a feeling it's going to take them awhile before they accept me," Remy said, "if they ever do."

"Well, Storm and Kitty did agree to give you a chance," Rogue said. "So that's a good start."

"What about Logan?"

"Well, he didn't skewer you straight away, so that's a good sign," Rogue replied thoughtfully. "On the other hand, he's plotting to get you in the danger room."

"Bad sign?"

"It's not called the 'danger' room for the fun of it."

"Pity," Remy said. "It would be pretty funny if the danger room was actually filled with things that were not at all dangerous."

Rogue laughed.

"I think that winning everyone over is going to be a challenge," she said, looking at Remy slyly. "But if anyone has a shot, it's you."

Remy looked away from the road long enough to give Rogue an affectionate grin.

"Nice to have your vote of confidence, chère," he said. "And changing the subject completely..."

"Mmm?"

"You remember when I bought you the lingerie and you decided to get everything I picked out for you 'cause you figured there was something I wanted to see you in, but you didn't know what it was?" Remy said.

"Yeah?" Rogue said, looking at him curiously.

"Well, you were right, and uhh, I was wondering if maybe, before you go, if I could see you in the pink bustier?"

Rogue blinked. "_That's_ what you want to see me in?"

"Uh huh."

"I was so sure it was the bra and panties, or the garter belt," Rogue said. "I discounted the bustier 'cause it was the first thing you gave me."

"Why do you think we were in that particular aisle in the first place?" Remy asked with a grin. "I've been to that store a lot."

"That would be a worrisome statement if I didn't know you went through a lot of mistresses," Rogue replied wryly.

Remy chuckled.

"So?" he asked giving her a sideways glance. "Care to indulge me?"

Rogue let out a long slow breath, and finally shrugged.

"Sure, why not?" she said. "You've seen me in everything else."

"Oh boy oh boy oh boy."

Rogue laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>Just the epilogue to go.


	33. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Five years later:**

Rogue and Remy pulled up in the parking lot of a quiet café, and Remy took Rogue's hand as they headed inside. Both of them were a little nervous about having lunch with Jackie.

It had taken time, but the X-men had eventually accepted Remy as one of their own. Occasionally he would even join them or otherwise advise them on various missions as he was often able to supply valuable information.

Rogue had eventually started giving Remy those spankings he was so fond of. At first it just felt weird to her, but when he started giving her verbal lists of all the things had done wrong (many of them Rogue considered trivial), she started feeling very uncomfortable with the whole thing. It was one thing if it was a kink, quite another thing if he actually thought he deserved it, and Rogue couldn't really tell which one it was. She began countering his lists of wrongdoings with lists of good deeds (some of them Remy considered trivial), which she subsequently rewarded him for.

As Rogue never did find out that Remy hated himself, she also never realised that her insistence in pointing out all the good in him—and even arguing him out of certain items on his lists of misdeeds—had gone a long way towards mending his poor self esteem. Bella Donna _did_ notice, however, and rightly credited this newer, happier Remy to Rogue's influence. She also made a point of telling Jackie that she thought that Rogue was the best thing to ever happen to him, and even thanked her for putting her own feelings aside so they could be together.

"There she is," Remy said, with a nod in Jackie's direction.

Rogue looked and grinned when she spotted six-month pregnant Jackie, sitting at one of the tables with her laptop opened in front of her. They walked over and sat down at the two empty chairs. Jackie smiled at their arrival and shut the lid of her laptop.

"Hey," Jackie greeted them. "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever get here."

"Oh please, we're right on time," Rogue said, pulling a face at her. "You're way early."

"I hate people watching me waddle," Jackie replied flippantly.

Remy chuckled. A waitress came over and the three ordered drinks.

"So, what's this about?" Jackie asked them. "I get worried when I get calls from you two saying you want to meet with me."

Rogue and Remy looked at each other, then back at Jackie.

"Well, see, sugar..." Rogue began awkwardly.

"Mon dieu, you're not pregnant are you?" Jackie asked, wincing at the very idea.

"No," Rogue said slowly, then glanced at Remy. "But we're hoping that'll be a possibility in the future."

"Aww man," Jackie said irritably. "Papa, you're pushing fifty. What the hell do you need to be a father again for?"

"I happen to be a very youthful forty-eight year old," Remy replied good-naturedly. "And Roguey wants kids."

"Meh."

"But that's not why we wanted to talk to you, Sunshine," Remy went on and took Rogue's hand in his. "You see, the thing is... We want to get married."

There was dead silence.

"Married?" Jackie repeated, sounding like she was almost choking on the word. "Papa, seriously, you were married to Maman for twenty-three years. Have you learned nothing?"

"Henri and Mercy have been married for thirty-four years," Remy replied. "And they certainly don't regret it."

"Well, someone's got to make the other fifty percent," Jackie muttered. "Besides, statistically speaking, second marriages don't last as long as first marriages where the first one died 'cause of divorce."

"But I haven't been married before," Rogue pointed out.

"Details."

"I'm well aware of what's at stake, Sunshine," Remy said patiently. "Why do you think it took me so long to pop the question in the first place? I have zero interest in repeating the same mistakes with Rogue as I did with Belle."

"Different mistakes on the other hand..."

"Everyone makes mistakes, sugar," said Rogue. "And yeah, it's likely that we'll have our rough patches, married or not. It's how we deal with them that's the important thing."

"Can't you just be together without getting married?" Jackie asked.

"Well, we could," Remy said. "Marriage is more than just a wedding and a bit of paper. It's a sharing of your entire lives; heart, body, mind, experiences, everything. It's knowing that when you're going through a rough time that there's always going to be someone there to help you up. It's always having someone to celebrate the good times with. It's having someone to _create_ good times with. It's having someone you can share everything you are with, especially the things you can't share with anyone else. It's being able to see each other at our worst and at our best. It's being complete. It's mutual enhancement of our lives. It's the ultimate adventure, the greatest challenge and the most beautiful relationship any two people can have."

"When it works," Jackie said, completely unimpressed with Remy's romanticised speech.

"That's the greatest challenge part," Remy said with a slight grin. "Making it work. I know you can't understand why people still get married, but it's that fulfilment you get from a marriage that works that everyone's after. That's why Roguey wants to get married, and that's why I want to try again. We don't need a wedding or a piece of paper to have the relationship we want, Sunshine, but it would be nice to make it official."

Jackie sighed.

"Besides, if it's not formalised, you have no incentive to stick together when things get tough," Rogue added.

"Things got tough for Papa and Maman," Jackie pointed out, "and they got divorced."

"Oui, but we got married for political reasons, not personal ones," Remy replied wryly. "Politically speaking, our marriage worked, and it only ended after it served its purpose."

Jackie blanched and was saved from responding by the arrival of their drinks. The waitress gave Remy and Rogue their coffees, and slid an iced chocolate across the table to Jackie.

"So, you'll be glad to know," Jackie said as she scooped up some of the cream off her iced chocolate, "that I finally told Edmund about the Guild."

"About time," Rogue replied with a grin.

Jackie poked her tongue out at Rogue and then licked the cream off her spoon.

"How'd he take it?" Remy asked.

"Better than I hoped, not as well as I would have liked," Jackie replied. "He told me he suspected that there was more going on with me than what I was telling him. I guess that's just a natural consequence of living together for five years."

"Probably," Rogue said.

"He seemed happy about the fact that there wasn't going to be any financial pressure, but I think he was a little freaked out by the whole assassin thing," Jackie went on thoughtfully as she scooped up more cream. "He did ask me to teach him how to pick locks though."

Rogue giggled and Remy nodded.

"Mais, I'm glad you told him," Remy said. "If he was going to be a good father to your child, he needed to know you were planning on raising his baby to be a career criminal."

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I know," Jackie said. "He knows now. Hopefully he'll settle down and we won't have any problems."

"I'm sure everything'll work out," said Rogue.

Remy sipped at his coffee and Jackie sighed.

"I think I would have preferred it if you told me you were pregnant," Jackie muttered. "I'm sure I could handle having a half brother or sister younger than my kid way better."

"Well, with any luck I will be telling you that one day," Rogue said wickedly. "Hopefully a couple of times so you can have a half brother _and_ a half sister."

"Meh," Jackie grumbled. "If I agree to this, I am not calling you 'Mama'."

"I wouldn't want you to," Rogue replied with a smirk. "Besides, I don't know what you're complaining about. By the time we get married—assuming we do—you will have had your baby, and I'll become a wife, a stepmother and a _grandmother_ all on the same day."

Jackie laughed and Remy grinned at Rogue.

"Little anxious about being a grand-mère, chère?" he asked.

"I'm way too young to be a grandmother," Rogue replied, grinning back at him. "I'm not even thirty yet."

"I don't know, chère," said Remy, his eyes glinting with mischief. "There are children of teenage mothers becoming teenage mothers too, thus making their mothers grandmothers at about thirty or younger."

"Yeah, but at least they have kids first," Rogue said, and took a sip of her own coffee.

Jackie stirred her iced chocolate while they bantered, and then sipped some through the straw. She didn't like this marriage idea of theirs, not one bit. She didn't want to see either of them get hurt, and as far as Jackie saw things, marriage was a good way to ruin a perfectly good relationship. On the other hand, Remy was right about Henri and Mercy. Jean-Luc and Carole seemed to be doing okay too. She couldn't say for certain with Louis and Adele, who were coming up to their fourth wedding anniversary.

"Okay," Jackie said.

Rogue and Remy looked at her.

"Okay?" Remy asked.

"Okay, you can get married," Jackie said, not actually looking at either of them. "Just promise me before you tie the knot that you're absolument sure this is what you want."

"It is and we do," Rogue said, reaching over to take Jackie's hand. "Thank you, sugar."

"Merci, Sunshine," Remy said, smiling at her. "You have no idea how much—"

"Yeah, yeah," Jackie cut in. "Don't get all sappy on me now."

Remy chuckled.

"All I ask in return is that I get to be the maid of honour," Jackie went on. "I've never been a bridesmaid before. Plus, I want to make a speech."

"Sure," Rogue said, grinning at her. "I wouldn't want anyone else, anyway."

"Good to know," Jackie said slyly, "Grandma."

Rogue pulled a face at her. Remy just laughed.

* * *

><p><strong>End!<strong>

I can't believe it's really over. This story has been a joy, a chore and a challenge to write. While I can't say that I enjoyed every moment of it, every moment of being stuck and frustrated has been completely worth it. There were times when I thought I'd never see the end, and now that I'm here I don't want to let go, haha.

Thanks as always to all my reviewers for all your support and encouragement.

Especial thanks to those who took the time to go over different things that happened in each chapter; the things that you noticed the most was very helpful. As I said previously, all my scenes have a purpose and it was useful as a writer to know what you as readers pick up on. (Admittedly, in some cases, the purpose of the scene was to distract you from something that happen just prior, heh).

If by chance anyone here decides to reread this story in the future, I would appreciate it if you could let me know either through PM or review if you picked up on anything new the second time. There were lots of things that happened at the end of the story which I needed to plant seeds for in advance so it didn't seem out of the blue, but I didn't want those seeds to be too obvious on a first reading and risk spoiling the ending ;)

There were also a number of ideas and subplots I ended up having to cut from the story:

Perhaps the most significant subplot I had to cut involved Jackie going to rape victim support meetings. The idea was that she would come across one girl who would declare that she wished her rapist was dead. Jackie, being Jackie, would supply the means to this end. As a result, Jackie would end up going on a rapist killing spree. Eventually she would meet one girl, a Christian who ended up pregnant as a result of her rape. Jackie would ask her why she didn't get an abortion ("because God is creating this life inside me"), and offer to kill the rapist for her ("no, I'm trying to forgive him, and he can't be saved if he's dead"). Obviously such attitudes would be really confusing for Jackie, and I thought it would be fun to explore. I also liked the idea of Rogue trying to explain that it's very easy to hate, it's a lot harder to forgive. Unfortunately, it didn't really add anything to the story, there were time constraints, and it would have put the focus on Jackie, rather than Rogue and Gambit where it belonged.

I also originally planned to have Rogue and Gambit sleep together prior to Rogue finding out the truth about the Cure. By extension, I also toyed with the idea of Rogue ending up pregnant. This idea was dropped because Rogue informed me that there was no way she'd ever take Gambit back if she felt he'd tricked her into having sex with him. I wanted a happy ending, so, no sex.

Oh and for everyone who was disappointed about Gambit's eyes being brown, I had thought of a way to change them back: Jackie can manipulate living matter, and although it reverts back to its original state after she "lets go", Gambit's brown eyes aren't his original state. Theoretically it could work permanently. I decided not to for multiple reasons: #1, It would have added nothing to the story; #2, It would have pushed Jackie over the edge into Mary Sue territory; #3, While Jackie is prepared to experiment on herself and homeless people, I didn't think she was inclined to experiment on her loved ones like that unless she was absolutely certain she knew what she was doing. But for those of you who really wanted Gambit's eyes to be restored, you can always pretend that it happened after the events of the story, when Jackie was better equipped with more knowledge and experience in her powers, and possibly doing some research into neuroscience or something.

Carol Danvers' appearance was actually a little last minute. I really wanted to write a danger room scene where Rogue was being pushed, but I was having trouble writing it. The truth of the matter is that anyone could have had Carol's role in that scene, but I was really taken with the idea of having Rogue and Carol in a story that didn't involve Rogue absorbing Carol. (Come on, just how many of you thought Rogue was going to absorb her the moment Carol introduced herself? Hehehe.) That fact that Carol's appearance was last minute is also the reason why there ended up being 'Carol' and 'Carole', as I had invented Jean-Luc's second wife long before I wrote the danger room scene.

There was one suggestion from a reviewer that I adored. In a review to chapter 11 (while I was working on chapters in the 20s), Ruroca57 suggested I write Remy and Jackie do a father/daughter heist. That would have been awesome, and I even started writing it, but then discovered it wasn't going to fit in with what I needed. Pity.

This end note is way, way longer than I intended, heh.

Finally, my next story is tentatively titled "The Chase". It's not ready to be posted yet, not even close. In preparation for this story, I highly recommend watching _Wolverine and the X-men _as it will be set in that universe and it will refer to it heavily. There will be spoilers and/or confusion for anyone who hasn't seen it.


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